The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) Computer-Based Tests, CBT, went smoothly on Monday across urban parts of Anambra State, despite earlier fears that Monday’s sit-at-home will negatively affect the test.
Mondays are observed as sit-at-home days in many parts of South-Eastern Nigeria, in compliance with the separatist group Indigenous Peoples of Biafra’s (IPOB) order.
IPOB gave the unpopular order as part of the effort to register its grievance over the continued detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Enforcement of the order has been bloody in many parts of Anambra State, with people killed for coming out and property destroyed.
Impressive Turnout in Awka and Onitsha
The turnout at JAMB-approved CBT centres in Awka, Onitsha, and environs was impressive.
It was difficult to get to rural parts of the state, where the enforcement of the sit-at-home order has been serious in recent times, to know the situation there.
Students and educationists have however stressed the need for the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) to approve more CBT centres, to accommodate the increasing number of candidates who sit for the UTME.
Some of the centres approved for the examination were filled and the candidates were taken in batches.
A student who sat the exams, Festus Goodness said the exams were cumbersome, due to the number of candidates.
“The entire process was just so stressful and at some point, one even runs the risk of forgetting everything they have read.
“I hope JAMB will do better next time,” she enthused.
Teacher Advocates for More UTME CBT Centres
A teacher who brought some students for the exams, Echezona Benson, advocated for more centres and their spread to other parts of the state.
He also called on JAMB to consider shifting the examination time from 7 am.
“JAMB needs to consider moving the exam time from 7 am down to maybe 9 am, or even increase the number of days the examination is taken to accommodate the candidates.
“This 7 am time is exposing these students to a lot of risks as many of them have to travel to the exam regions and sleep over in environments they don’t know anything about.
“This can pose some kind of danger to the safety of the students,” he said.
Mr. Benson also suggested a means of having the candidates get their results before leaving the CBT centres.
