JAMB vows to fight malpractice, cautions against fraudsters

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said on Wednesday that measures had been put in place to fight all forms of examination malpractice in its 2018 examinations scheduled to commence on Friday, March 9.

The Registrar of the Board, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed this to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to him, all hands are on deck to ensure a smooth exercise in its 605 centres across the country.

He said that the board would not hesitate to bring to book, anyone found wanting during the exercise.

“We are pleased to announce to the public that we are fully ready to commence the 2018 examinations.

“Through research, we have discovered a number of items that aid examination malpractice.

“The board has looked into the possibility of these items being used in its examinations and have included them on our list of items banned from the venue of examination.

“These include: watches, cameras, recorders, calculators, microphones, spy glasses, cell phones, ear-piece, ink/pen readers, smart lenses, smart rings/jewelries, smart-buttons, Bluetooth devices and storage devices among others.

“Consequently, all officials, Computer-Based Test (CBT) owners and candidates are hereby warned not to bring any of the above banned items into the examination venues as ignorance will not be taken as a defence.

“Any official, CBT operator or candidate caught will be handed over to security agencies for appropriate sanctions.

“Candidates can only bring pencil that is allowed.’’

Oloyede said that unlike the 2017 exercise, the Board would not release the results of the 2018 examinations immediately until after two to three days.

This, he said, was not because the board was incapable of releasing the results immediately but because the results must undergo review and total scrutiny to avoid multiple cancellations of candidates’ results.

The registrar urged candidates to shun lateness and adhere strictly to the regulations of the exercise, adding that the board would not reschedule the examination for anyone who missed the exercise.

“Candidates are expected to have printed their e-slips from Tuesday, March 6.

“The e-slip contains a number of information which includes their examination town, centre, date and time allocated to each candidate.

“Candidates are urged to note that there shall be no rescheduling of any examination; they are to adhere strictly to the date and time allocated to them for the examination.

“Any candidate who fails to turn up on schedule for his or her examination automatically misses the examination,’’ Oloyede said.

He decried the incessant cases of candidates who are defrauded by syndicates.

According to him, the worrisome situation has forced the board not to take lightly anyone caught trying to sabotage the system.

“Some of them ask candidates to send recharge cards worth N4, 000 to N6, 000 to them for access to questions relating to the examinations; this is fraudulent.

“I must say also no centre is allowed to collect any amount of money from candidates under any guise because the candidates have paid us already and we have paid the centres for these exercise.

“We call on all of you to be on the watch and to never hesitate to call on us where such information is made available to you.

“Our utmost ambition is to sanitise the system from any infraction and we will not hesitate to deal decisively with anybody trying to cheat the candidates or the system,’’ the registrar said.

He stressed that the JAMB would continue to keep pace with the fast-paced changes in technology and candidates behaviour by either innovating new solutions or improving existing capacity.

This, Oloyede explained, was in order to sustain the board’s credibility, adding that it was important to continue to find ways to address “the many inventions of candidates who are determined to circumvent the system.”

Oloyede said that new processes had been introduced by JAMB not only to curb malpractices but to also improve the efficiency of its services to the public.