The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Monday, released results of its 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.
A total of 1,989,668 candidates registered to write the examination across the country including foreign centres.
Even as it is withholding over 64,000 results, JAMB said the examination witnessed a near-zero malpractice with just 78 candidates caught engaging in the act during the examination that began on Friday, 19th April and ended on 26th April ,2024,respectively.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who announced the release of the result at a press conference held at the board’s headquarters,in Bwari,Abuja, said 80, 810 candidates were absent leaving a total of 1, 904, 189 candidates to write the UTME within the six days of the examination.
Giving analysis of the results, Prof. Oloyede , who refused to named the top scorer, explainrd that 8,401 candidates scored 300 and above while 77,070 candidates scored 250 and above.
Similarly,he said 439,974 candidates scored 200 & above just as 1,402,490 candidates scored below 200.
He disclosed that 64, 624 results are under investigation and so the affected results are being withheld until conclusion of the investigation.
He said: “For the 2024 UTME, 1,989,668 candidates registered including those who registered at foreign centres. The Direct Entry registration is still ongoing.
“Out of a total of 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80, 810 were absent. A total of 1, 904, 189 sat the UTME within the six days of the examination.
“The Board is today releasing the results of 1, 842, 464 candidates. 64, 624 results are under investigation, “he said.
READ ALSO: Breaking: JAMB releases 2024 UTME results
Speaking further on the 2024 UTME, Prof. Oloyede explained that, “After the registration exercise, 1,989,668 candidates, who registered for the exercise were scheduled to sit the 2024 examination, which was held from Friday, 19th to 26th April, 2024, in 118 examination towns and in 774 centres.
In the course of the examination, 25 sessions experienced hiccups of disrupting only 150 of the total 9, 156 sessions in 95 of the 774 centres. The affected sessions were promptly rescheduled. Only one centre, Makama School of Technology, Old Motor Park, Along FCCE (T) Road, Bichi, Kano State, was delisted for substandard performance. ”
“The board, at the moment, conducts examination in nine foreign centres namely: Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Buea, Cameroon; Cotonou, Republic of Benin; London, United Kingdom; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Johannesburg, South Africa.”
“The essence of this foreign component of the examination is to market our institutions to the outside world as well as ensuring that our universities reflect the universality of academic traditions, among others. The Board is, currently, fine-tuning arrangements for the conduct of the 2024 UTME in these foreign centres, “he explained.
Oloyede explained that JAMB would not give names of the top scorers, given that it considers its UTME as only a ranking examination.
“It is common knowledge that the Board has, at various fora, restated its unwillingness to publish the names of its best-performing candidates, as it considers its UTME as only a ranking examination on account of the other parameters that would constitute what would later be considered the minimum admissible score for candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions.
” Similarly, because of the different variables adopted by respective institutions, it might be downright impossible to arrive at a single or all-encompassing set of parameters for generating a list of candidates with the highest admissible score as gaining admission remains the ultimate goal. Hence, it might be unrealistic or presumptive to say a particular candidate is the highest scorer given the fact that such a candidate may, in the final analysis, not even be admitted.
“However, owing to public demand and to avoid a repeat of the Mmesoma saga as well as provide a guide for those, who may want to award prizes to these set of high-performing candidates, the Board appeals to all concerned to always verify claims by candidates before offering such awards, “it explained.
How to check results:
JAMB advised candidates to start checking their various results from 7am on Tuesday by texting RESULT to 55019/66019, using the phone numbers they used to register.
“Candidates are advised to use the phone numbers they used to register to text RESULT to 55019/66019. There is no need to approach any CBT centre or cybercafé to check results. The following are the responses to be expected hence, a candidate with a result will receive the message: “Dear “Candidate X”, your result is as follows (and the details will be provided).
“Those being processed and those absent would receive “under processing” and “absent” respectively.
“Those under investigation would receive:Verification Investigation ;Under Investigation;Under Investigation;Alleged Infraction”, it said.
Oloyede said,”The Board has observed the recent abuse of the process through the connivance of some centres, institutions and unscrupulous candidates, whereby some CBT centres accept/reject admission offers on behalf of candidates. ”
“They do this to create vacancies for less-qualified but favoured candidates while cybercafés and some candidates do this to blackmail candidates or extort them, ”
He said the new methods of accepting or rejecting admissions will henceforth be:”Either a candidate sends ACCEPT/REJECT on his dedicated phone line to 55019/66019; or
a candidate accepts or rejects any admission offer (programme change inclusive) with his/her fingerprint (biometric) at an accredited CBT centre or at any JAMB Office.”
“The above newly-crafted methods of accepting or rejecting admissions, are aimed at protecting the details of the candidates and upholding the sanctity of the admission process.
“With this new method, the candidates’ registered phone (SIM) is now more important than ever was as it is now required to perform even more sensitive operations, ” he said.
He said JAMB was currently holding discussions with the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission, NCC on dedicated student’s SIM with restricted services.
While appealing against what he termed “the intruding attitude of parents”, he said the 2024 UTME recorded a significant adherence to the rule mandating parents/guardians to stay away from the premises of the examination centres except in one centre.
He named the centre as Destiny CBT Centre, Ayobo, Lagos State, where he said some parents, constituted themselves into a nuisance.
“It would be noted that the Board, in one of its recent publications, recognised desperate parents as the unconscionable actors keeping the examination malpractice industry afloat.
“This is owing to the fact that they frustrate all instructions that are aimed at guiding their wards towards becoming the leaders that the nation desires. Also, even when the Board prescribes appropriate registration fees and prohibits group registration, which many elite schools are guilty of, they ensure that these schools do not adhere to these guidelines as they pay tens of thousands of naira for a registration that is less than ten thousand naira, indulged in group registration and where there are issues, they placed the blame squarely on the Board.
“Therefore, undue parental influence remains one of the challenges being encountered by the Board in the course performing its statutory roles. These parents, in their desperate bid to ensure their children pass at all cost, are always hell-bent on accompanying their wards to examination centres, even as far as into the examination hall in some instances, and any resistance by the officials at the centre sometimes leads to assault on such hapless examination officials. Interestingly, this unwholesome predilection by these parents, especially on account of their perception and attitudes towards examination infractions, could rub off on their children. The parents involved in the Lagos and one in National Headquarters, Abuja had constituted a cog in the wheel of progress of their children.
“Furthermore, henceforth any candidate whose data are found with any of the arrested fraudsters with proof of being supplied by the candidate or his/her parent would be treated as an accomplice to the crime and thus be sanctioned and prosecuted.
“This is because candidates, whose parents see nothing wrong in cheating, develop a disposition for cheating as well. It could also be said that this desperation exhibited by these set of parents could be attributed to their desire to add their children’s profiles to their own as they craved such titles as parents of medical doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.
” Hence, they would go to any length, whether legal or otherwise to compromise the process even to the extent of procuring underhand admission for their children, sending their underage children to early-childhood schools, registering them for First School Leaving Certificate Examination in Primary Five as against Primary Six, as well as hurrying them to take the Senior School Certificate Examination at SS2 or age 14.
“Furthermore, it is to be noted that a reasonable number of the Board’s challenges, be it data mutilation or examination infractions, are connected with the undue interference of parents. Meanwhile, many parents, also against our rules, pay exorbitant rates to their children’s schools in the name of JAMB registration for illicit ends.
“The Board will continue to appeal to parents to see the Board as a worthy partner in moulding their wards and should, therefore, trust in the Board’s judgment. The intruding attitude of parents has, in some cases, led to candidates even missing their examinations, some on account of group registration and others, to contrary instructions from conniving parents, “he added.
He said JAMB would continue to give its best irrespective of what others do as the government has given it a responsibility and we will not shy away from it.
” For us, in the not-too-distant future, we hope to see an examination cycle that would be completely devoid of infractions.
We will continue to count on the support of all stakeholders, especially members of the media, in sensitizing the public on the importance of upholding the sanctity of our operations and the need to support our drive toward excellence, “he said.
Speaking on examination infractions, the JAMB Registrar said:”There is no gainsaying the fact that examination infractions have continued to be on a downward trend with the introduction of CBT by the Board.
” It is also true that the Board is determined to sustain the tempo through the adoption and automation of all its processes starting from registration, examination to admission. It is to be noted that examination misconduct is clearly being eliminated from examinations conducted by the Board as only 78 cases of examination misconduct were recorded in the just-concluded exercise.
“Even these cases are largely in terms of impersonation, and smuggling of devices into the examination hall. In essence, the Board witnessed a near-zero infraction situation in the 2024 UTME except for a few cases, which represent just a tiny fraction of what was reported last year. This is encouraging and the Board is poised to consolidate on the successes recorded.”
