JAMB suspends mock examination as candidates lament

Is’haq Oloyede, the Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has announced the suspension  of the board’s  mock examination  due to some circumstances beyond its  control.

Oloyede, in  a text message sent to the supervisors at the various centres in the FCT on Saturday in Abuja,  expressed regrets at  the inconveniences it might caused the public,  especially the candidates.

He said  that  a  new date would be communicated to them later.

The examination,   scheduled to hold on Saturday  in some  accredited centres across the country  was shifted,   infuriating  many candidates.

The mock examination, which is not compulsory, was designed to acquaint prospective candidates on the application of the examination and its processes  using the Computer Based Testing (CBT) mode.

A correspondent of  the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),   who monitored the examination in some  parts of Lagos, reports that candidates reported at  their respective centres as early as 5.00 a.m.

In one of the centres in Ikeja, candidates waited patiently till about 2.00 p.m. for the examination to start.

NAN reports that when an official of JAMB at the centre was approached to ascertain  why the examination had yet to start, he said that  the centre  was experiencing network problem.

Not long after that, the official, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that information reaching him  indicated  that the examination had been postponed nationwide.

He added that the postponement was due to “some unforeseen circumstances’’ and that a new date would be communicated to the prospective candidates.

The official, however,  said that JAMB regretted the development and pleaded for understanding.

The information was later communicated to the candidates, who   expressed their disappointment.

One of the candidates told NAN that it would be good for JAMB to avoid a repeat of the development during the normal examination.

“Imagine what just happened; we have been waiting here as early as 6.00 a.m. only for us to be informed that the  normal examination will no longer hold.

“I feel disappointed even though it is a trial examination, but at the same time, it is an eye opener for the organisers to be on their toes, get it right before May 6,’’ the candidate said.

Another candidate, Samuel Joel, called on JAMB to do the needful in order to allay the fears that the development might have raised.

Joel said that the country had come a long way to be having such challenges.

“I do not really know the main reason for the postponement of the mock examination, but I just think that somewhere somehow, things did not just turn out well.

“I am not happy going home now without doing the examination after waiting for about eight hours.

“Whatever it is that was responsible,  it should be tackled as quickly as possible to in order to regain the confidence of the candidates,’’ he said.

At the Christ the King College (CKC), Gwagwalada, FCT,  one of the mock examination centres, candidates were sighted waiting  patiently  for the examinations.

NAN  reports that some of the candidates that failed to come to the centre with their  examination print out had  found it difficult to identify their seat number.

Mrs Rachael Angulu,the  JAMB  supervisor of the centre, however,  advised candidates to  print out their mock form before coming to the centre.

Another candidate, Miss Sarah Adeniyi, who spoke to NAN, said she arrived at the centre as early as 6.30 a.m.  and as at 1.30 p.m.,  she had not been allowed into the premises.

“I am so tired and hungry. I rushed down here thinking they would keep to time. Look at us under the sun since morning.

“I just feel like forgetting about this whole mock  examination,” she said.