Deadline ends today , as registration hitches persist
Barely three days to the deadline for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) registrations, prospective candidates say they are still encountering hitches registering for the examinations with their National Identification Number (NIN), a development they could see many missing out on the examination.
On May 15, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) extended the registration by two weeks, explaining that prospective candidates numbering over 600,000 had not registered for the examinations, due to challenges in generating profile codes.
The Board had meetings with critical stakeholders from May 14 through 15 to discuss the challenges and subsequently extended the registration deadline.
But one week after the extension, and with the new deadline due Saturday, May 29, the board expressed concern that the pace of registration was rather declining.
Some of the Computer Based Centres (CBT) visited it was found that several candidates were still unable to generate their profile code despite being debited at every attempt.
Some candidates said they went the extra mile of acquiring a new SIM card and had to endure the arduous process of registering the SIM card in line with the new regulations before they were able to generate their unique profile code.
Some other candidates said they have been battling with network hitches, especially in capturing their biometrics.
“I have been trying to register for nearly one week now. I have sent my NIN to the shortcode more than 5 times and I have not received anything. I am so worried because I cannot continue with the registration process without the profile code”, a candidate narrated her ordeal.
“For months I have been trying to register my son for the examinations but it was not working out until someone in JAMB office told me to get a new SIM, we got the SIM and registered. Immediately we sent the SMS we got the code and that was yesterday, it was not an easy process,” Elizabeth Oluremi said.
“Today (Wednesday) is my first attempt, I sent the SMS since morning, but I have not received any code. I have been advised to use a new SIM preferably one that has not been registered with JAMB before, I just hope I can meet up with the deadline,” Hannatu Ismail said.
“I have tried several times and I kept getting debited each time, but I keep getting ‘invalid NIN’. I am not happy. I would have to send a complaint letter to JAMB because my colleague did that and his code was sent” another candidate said.
A CBT operator in Abuja who spoke on condition of anonymity said the slow registration was due to difficulty generating the profile code and poor network. He also added that JAMB was already closing some portals ahead of the deadline.
Several of these candidates experiencing this difficulty have appealed to JAMB to extend the registration and shift the examination dates.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) shifted the 2021 UTME/DE programme to take place from 19 June – 3 July. The examinations were earlier scheduled to hold from June 5 to 19.
The postponement according to the board was necessitated by these challenges experienced by candidates while registering for the UTME.
JAMB had created the USSD code to ease registration for examinations and it took effect from Friday, April 30, 2021.
The new format which complements the SMS method is available to candidates who are yet to send their National Identity Number (NIN) to the requested number.
“We shall be deploying another method to get these profile codes and that is *55019*1*NIN number of candidate and #. This will complement the current SMS.”
“Most of these candidates are not going through the process in the appropriate manner. There is just nothing stressful about the generation of the profile code if the steps are followed correctly. The right thing to do is to ensure that the word NIN is first typed, then space, then the NIN number of candidate and then forward to 55919.” the board had said.
Credit: Business day.
