Some concerned parents and students in Cross River have expressed dissatisfaction over what they described as the poor organisation of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in the state.
Correspondence reports that in separate interviews on Monday in Calabar, the parents and students lamented the challenges they faced in participating in the examination.
The 2025 UTME, organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is being conducted from April 25 to May 5 as a Computer-Based Test (CBT).
Mr. Jonas Achi described the entire UTME process as arduous, from registration to the conduct of the examination.
“During registration at the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Secondary School, many of us parents had to sleep overnight at the centre to ensure our children were registered. The crowd was overwhelming,” he said.
Achi noted that several candidates from Cross River were posted to examination centres as far as Akwa Ibom State and Obudu, requiring long hours of travel.
“Another challenge is fixing examinations for 6:30 a.m. How does JAMB expect candidates to arrive at such early hours? It is highly insensitive,” he added.
Similarly, Mr. Johnson Etim recounted the difficulties he faced registering his daughter after queuing for a week at FAAN Secondary School, eventually registering her at the University of Calabar Library.
Etim said the JAMB office in Calabar was unable to register his ward after several days of unsuccessful attempts, often citing network issues.
“After enduring all that, my daughter was posted to Akamkpa, which is two to three hours from Calabar. My neighbour’s son was posted to Ikom, about four to five hours away, a place he had never visited before,” he said.
Etim lamented that parents were now forced to leave their homes by 5 a.m. or lodge overnight in hotels, adding extra financial burdens.
When the correspondent visited the JAMB office in Calabar, several students were seen complaining that they could not write their examinations due to the faraway centres assigned to them.
Joseph Adagi, a 16-year-old candidate, said he was posted to Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom for an early morning exam but could not travel, as he had no place to stay and could not afford lodging.
Other candidates presented medical reports requesting that their examinations be rescheduled to centres closer to Calabar due to health issues.
Efforts to reach JAMB officials in the state were unsuccessful, as security personnel at the office informed correspondent that all officials were out supervising the ongoing examinations.
(NAN)