Some candidates who sat for the 2023 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Board (JAMB) mock examinations on Thursday, March 30, have expressed concern over some technical hitches experienced during the exercise.

A NAN correspondent, who monitored the examinations in some Computer Based Test (CBT) centres, discovered that while some centres had hitch-free sessions, some had some technical problems.

At the Zinaria CBT centre in Maraba, candidates expressed satisfaction over the process saying that this showed the main examination would be hitch-free.

One of the candidates, Emmanuel Adetiba, said the mock examination started at 7.00 a.m. which according to him, was a good start.

‘The examination started on time which to me is a good development. I had no issues signing into my computer and I was able to do my exams without any problem.

‘I want to commend the board for the process as I believe that the main examination will also be smooth as we have experienced today,” Adetiba said.

At the Junior Secondary School Jikwoyi, Blossom Nwanguma, said the computer system she used experienced technical hitches which delayed her scheduled time of starting the examination.

Nwanguma stated that the examination started early at the stipulated time of 7.00 a.m. for the first batch and 9.00 a.m. for the second batch.

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“For me, at this centre, I experienced some technical challenges with my computer. This is because the system went off just before I started my English language examination.

“This actually occurred like three times. Although, I was able to finish within time.

“Some computers were malfunctioning during the exams but technicians on ground were able to arrest the situation by fixing them,” she said.

On the other hand, at the Royal Midland CBT centre, One man Village, Nasarawa State, the mock examinations did not hold due to technical hitches.

Candidates at this centre were, however, moved to Future Gate CBT centre in Ado, for their mock examinations.

However, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, rescheduled examinations for candidates who were unable to sit for the 2023 mock due to some technical hitches experienced at their centres.

Oloyede, who made this known while speaking with journalists in Abuja, promised all candidates who registered to write the 2023 mock examination the opportunity to sit for the exams.

He, however, said JAMB would reschedule the mock examination to hold on Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1 for some candidates who were unable to sit for theirs at the commencement of the examination on Thursday.

While responding to technical hitches recorded in some centres, the JAMB boss said the board expected specific challenges following the test of its facilities for the main Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scheduled to hold on April 29, 2023.

Oloyede acknowledged the technical hitches faced by candidates who sat for mock exams on Thursday, adding that the exercise was held to test specific facilities of the board in preparation for main examinations.

“We are aware of all those things we are monitoring and that is why it is a mock examination. We are holding it to test specific facilities of the board on a large scale in preparation of main exams.

“What is important is that all candidates who registered for mock examination will be able to sit for their mock.

“For those who were not able to write today, JAMB will reschedule them for Friday and Saturday,” he said.

JAMB had earlier announced that it would examine 176,408 candidates in its 2023 mock examination slated for Thursday, March 30.

The Star