By Emegwoako C. Paschal
The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTNE), will be conducted in a seamless manner going forward, according to new rules released by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
On Monday in Abuja, the board published this information in its Weekly Bulletin of the Office of the Registrar. It reports that the information was made public in a communiqué that was released at the conclusion of a management staff brainstorming retreat that took place from Monday, Sept. 19, to Friday, Sept. 23, in Abuja.
The modifications, it continued, included fresh approaches to further improve the conduct of UTME accreditation centers, candidate registration, the examination process, results management, and overall administration.
“No new Computer-Based Test center will be accredited unless the new requirements are met,” they stated.
To that end, new CBT centers must use laptop computers as clients, no thin-clients, or Remote Desktop Protocol will be rejected.”
The statement also stated that no CBT center should install clients with less than 2 gigabytes (2GB) of RAM.
“It is now required that the Autobot system be used for CBT center accreditation; there should be three Autobot tests: pre-accreditation during Mock – UTME and the dummy examination.”
“This, according to JAMB, would be held a day before the UTME to confirm the center’s readiness.”
Another important reason for the decision, according to the board, was to prevent IP address duplication and abuse, adding that one of the retreat’s resolutions was to broaden the scope of accredited CBT centers, and each of the centers would now have two additional registration outlets within their state of operation.
According to the statement, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, Registrar, JAMB, has warned that cybercafes and tutorial centers are not permitted to participate in any of the board’s exercises.
Oloyede stated that no CBT center would be allowed to collaborate with the prohibited group and that any violation of the directive, in part or in whole, would result in the revocation of the erring CBT center’s license.
The registrar was also quoted as saying that biometrics of all accredited CBT center registration officers would be collected ahead of time, this, he explained, was because the board, as a proactive agency, needed to move with the tide to stay ahead of the machinations of cheats and protect the system’s integrity.
Concerning registration and biometrics, the registrar stated that candidates with bad fingerprints would be scheduled for the examination as “Exemption Candidates” at the registration point.
“Their registration slips would be color-coded and visually distinct from the registration slips of other candidates.”
“Furthermore, as a requirement for printing registration slips, a candidate must use at least two fingers, and any of the two fingers taken would be used for biometric verification prior to entering the examination hall on the day of the examination,” says the statement.
He also ordered that all candidates’ two verifiable fingers be consecutively indicated on their registration and examination slips.
The Registrar also stated that, in order to further consolidate its data collection efforts, the board would consider splitting UTME registration from Direct Entry registration beginning in 2023.
To further discourage illegal admissions and the printing of indemnity forms, he added that all candidate registrations, including UTME, DE, and others, must be completed with fingerprint authentication.
“The same must be used for the printing of registration slips and indemnity forms,” he said, adding that institutions must declare and provide a list of candidates admitted behind closed doors before affected candidates can apply for the confinement of Undisclosed Illegal Institutional Admissions.
