Admission seekers, parents lament sluggish application, document submission process at JAMB office

University admission seekers and parents have expressed frustration over the tortuous delays in submitting documents at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) office in Abuja.

Some of them spoke to PREMIUM TIMES at the JAMB office in Kado, Abuja, on Wednesday, lamenting the delay, which has run into more than a week for several of the candidates.

They blame the delay, which saw many endure rain at the JAMB office repeatedly for days, on the sluggish online portal and the matriculation examination body’s shortage of manpower.

The candidates who sat this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) were at the venue to either upload their O’level results or change their preferred institutions or course of study.

Others were at the office to convert their UTME applications to direct entry.

While the UTME candidates possess an O-level certificate as their highest qualification, the direct entry candidates process their university admission with an A-level or equivalent qualification. The direct entry candidates are admitted into the second year of university, while the UTME candidates start from the first year.

Candidates are assessed for admission based on the details they submit through the JAMB portal. Some of the admission seekers who took the last West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) are also expected to upload their results.

However, students and parents who accompanied their wards to the venue on Wednesday told PREMIUM TIMES that they had been visiting the JAMB office for days without getting the expected attention due to the slow network and “shortage of manpower.”

Frustrations

During a visit to the venue at about 9 a.m. on Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES found a scrum of candidates huddled at the gate waiting to be allowed into the premises.

One candidate who identified himself as Taoofeeq said he had been asked to return multiple times since last week.

The candidate who wants to convert his UTME application to direct entry said he visited the JAMB office last Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He added that he also visited the venue on Monday before returning today (Wednesday).

“They said the network was not working. I was not the only one. They just said I should go and come back,” Mr Taofeeq explained to our reporter on Wednesday.

“It (the portal) started working on Monday but I didn’t come early. It was only today that I came early.”

Another candidate, Margaret Godwin, said she got to the JAMB office at 7:24 a.m. on Wednesday and was given a serial number 238. She was waiting to be called into the office to be attended to.

Parents lament lack of rain shield

Parents accompanying their wards to the venue lamented the lack of shelter to shield them and the candidates from rain.

Adefarakan Adebambo, a parent, said his two daughters were completely drenched by the rain on Monday when he dropped them off around 8 a.m. on his way to work. The rain also marred their documents, according to the father.

“I brought them here to upload their WAEC results on the JAMB portal, only to call me around 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. that they were in the rain. They said they had not gained access to the JAMB office since morning because the system was slow and JAMB didn’t have enough staff to operate its system,” Mr Adebambo said.

He spoke of two candidates who had a similar experience on Tuesday.

Another parent, Cordelia Ekwezulu, said she brought her son on Tuesday to change his preferred institution. She said they waited till 4 p.m. but were not attended to because, as the officials told them, the system was slow.

She said they wrote down their names, hoping that the list would be used today (Wednesday), but it was discarded in favour of a new list.

“Today, they’re not using yesterday’s list. We were here as early as 7 a.m., and up until now, my son is still outside; we’ve not even entered,” she said around 9 a.m.

“There’s nowhere to stay when it rains. That’s the worry and what we are going through,” Ms Ekwezulu added.

Expressing similar concern, Mr Adebambo said, “These children don’t have anywhere to hide when the rain starts… How can we continue to subject our children to these inhuman treatments.”

PREMIUM TIMES couldn’t speak to the officials of the JAMB office in Kado as the security guards at the gate prevented our reporter from accessing the premises.

One of the guards, an officer of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), said he could not leave his duty post to call for any official to address our reporter. He asked the reporter to wait until any of the officials stepped out.

Meanwhile, as of the time of filing this report on Wednesday, JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin has yet to respond to calls and text messages sent to his line seeking comments.