Some parents and guardians in Plateau State have
described as “very exorbitant,” the N1,500 they were
being charged by the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board (JAMB) for scratch card to access
the examination result.
Speaking to journalists in Jos, Pakshin and other towns
in the state, parents accused the examination body of
extorting money from students and parents with all
manners of charges.
“The charges are strange. Last year, we used the JAMB
registration number to check the scores. We were not
expecting something different this year,” Mr Gotong
Nanman, a parent said.
He said he was very surprised when his niece brought
the request to him, and alleged that JAMB was not
sensitive to the harsh realities facing poor Nigerians.
Nanman recalled that he spent N5,000 to purchase the
JAMB form, and another N1,500 was a huge burden,
especially since there was a mass failure this year.
Another parent, Mr. Danjuma Dumak, argued that
JAMB was making billions of naira since more than one
million candidates sat for the university admission
test.
He therefore urged the federal government to
intervene to save poor people from such pains since
many parents had consistently registered for the
examinations in the last five years.
“The National Assembly should also ask JAMB to
explain what is happening. They (lawmakers)
represent us and should intervene in this matter,” he
said.
JAMB’s Head of Public Relations, Mr. Fabian Benjamin,
however said in his reaction, that the complaining
parents were doing that out of ignorance.
“Many of them are not aware of the activities of the
board; we are trying so hard to reduce the cost of this
examination.
“If we are to charge according to the services we
render, each candidate will pay nothing less than N10,
000 but government has consistently subsidised the
services and that is why the registration form costs
only N4,000.”
He rejected suggestions that JAMB was making profit
from the admission process, saying that it was usually
a tedious route from the registration to the point of
admission to admit a qualified candidate.
Benjamin claimed that the scratch card had diverse
uses, pointing out that its cost was not enough to
cover its services.
“All universities, colleges of education and
polytechnics are involved in the entire process and
each of them is entitled to a certain percentage,” he
said.
According to him, “what the board realizes is used to
pay people that set the questions, those that mark the
scripts, and those that enter them into the master
system.
“The process cannot be said to be completed until we
reach the point of admission to the candidates; this
demands a lot of funds.
“You also remember that from May 17 to May 29, we
shall conduct computer examination for prison
inmates in Lagos and Katsina as part of our
rehabilitation programmes. Just try to imagine how
much that will cost,” he said.
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