84,000 candidates sit for rescheduled mock exam ahead of next week’s UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says about 84,000 candidates sat for its rescheduled mock UTME in 387 computer-based test (CBT) centres across the country.

NAN reports that Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB registrar, spoke while monitoring the exercise in Abuja on Tuesday.

The registrar expressed delight over the hitch-free exercise, designed to test JAMB’s preparedness for the main UTME and give prospective candidates the opportunity to have hands-on experience of the exam process.

Oloyede also commended the candidates for showing understanding over the board’s decision to reschedule the examination for April 18.

“We should also thank the students for bearing with us when we were trial-testing. You know we gave a notice that we were moving to a new level and I think by God’s grace, we are now arriving at the next level,” he said.

“Those things we wanted to test, we have seen what they were and we went back and made sure everything worked and it is working.

“For example, we have decided that all those with zero thin clients (computers that have no Central Processing Unit (CPU) identity but rely on central server and share the same IP address) will have to change if they must continue on our network.”

Oloyede said 16 of the centres used for the mock UTME have two sessions, adding that the results would be out before the end of the day.

On his part, Fabian Okoro, JAMB’s director of Information Technology Services (ITS), said the real-time information from all CBT centres showed that the examination was conducted smoothly.

“When we did the first exam, we were testing new features and we observed lapses. We had to go back to the drawing board and make sure they were corrected,” he said.

“You can see from the control room here that there are less calls coming in. That shows the exam is moving smoothly and peacefully in all the centres across the country”.

The UTME examination is scheduled to hold next week, April 25.