UTME screening: JAMB asks varsities to update portals

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has advised universities and other tertiary institutions in the country to regularly download and update their records to remain up-to-speed with the list of applicants seeking admission into their institutions, as forwarded to them by the board.

JAMB’s Zonal Coordinator for Katsina State, Mr Mohammed Kankia, told The Nation in his office in Katsina that constant refreshing of the portals would ensure that no candidate seeking admission is denied the opportunity due to negligence occasioned by the attitude of such institution.

He said: “Several factors may necessitate change of institution by an applicant. These include the choice of course to study, the inability to meet up with the requisite admission cut-off mark, pressure from parents, particularly due to change of locations, among others.

“We have made the process open and more simplified for them. We have informed them first through the Central Admission Processing Systems (CAPS) that on daily basis, they should download or refresh the lists and upload them on their portals. But this instruction seems to have been largely ignored.

“I have dispatched letters three times to the institutions in the state, and parents have been trooping to my office to ask questions. But these institutions seem not to be complying with the directive.”

Asked what the board intended to do should the institutions fail to comply with the directive and the students are denied the opportunity to participate in the current Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) screening, Kankia urged such disenfranchised candidates to petition the board.

The zonal coordinator promised to attend to such petitions and do the needful.

He said: “A candidate may even apply for a change of institution, even as at 11 p.m, assuming the portal is expected to close by midnight. If a candidate is wilfully denied the opportunity to access and register for the screening, he can petition the board.

“JAMB gives them all they require. If they don’t want to go on admitting candidates, they can inform us to block their portals. After all, we made registration easier for them.”