Poor network and power failure were among the challenges some candidates for the Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) experienced in parts of Rivers State on Wednesday.
Some of the students (candidates) disclosed that the unstable network in particular delayed the commencement of the examination and affected the stopping time.
One of the candidates, who simply gave his name as Godson, said that his centre was at Maranntha and Associate, Elelenwo, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
He disclosed that, though he was able to attempt all the questions, the system (laptop) he used was slow and delayed his stay in the examination hall.
According to him, there was also the problem of thumbprinting caused by ineffective network and poor coordination.
He said: “My exam was at 6:30am. From where I am staying to my centre should be about one hour, 30 minutes drive. So, I had to leave home quite late to be able to get a vehicle to my centre.
“At the centre, the thumbprinting was actually not encouraging at all, though mine was later successful. The laptop was good. Initially, power supply was also good. But, suddenly, the light went off. We thought it would affect the laptops. But, it slowed down the performance of the laptops.
“There were unfavourable stories from some of my friends at their centre of network problem, and they could not write at all.
“Some said they started writing and, suddenly, their systems went off but the light was on. And there was nothing they could do about the systems.” It was also the same unfavourable story at the Churchill Universal Basic School UTME centre, according to one of the candidates, Charles Michael.
He said: “My exam was 9:30am. But, we didn’t enter early because those for the 6:30am exam did not finish early. We started very late. Some people’s laptops worked by very slowly. Some, their own systems were not stable. And they did not write. They were confused. But, I thank God for seeing me through.”
However, many of the candidates scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, 2013, who could not write the die system failure, were still waiting for JAMB to open the portal to reprint their rescheduled centres.
Earlier on Wednesday, some of the candidates for Tuesday, May 25 examination, at State School II, Elele, In Ikwerre Local Government Area, said they received a text message from JAMB that the portal would be opened at 6pm. At the time (6:40pm) of filing this report, some of the candidates said they were at business centres and there was no new information concerning a rescheduled date for the examination.
