We reduced examination fee to encourage more applicants - JAMB Registrar | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
2nd January 2018
The Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) has disclosed that it reduced the fees payable for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in order to encourage more applicants to apply into Nigerian tertiary institutions.
JAMB’s Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Professor Ishaq Oloyede disclosed this as he added that the agency returned N7.8billion to the federal government’s coffers from the proceeds of examination forms sold in 2017. He stated that the fund was sourced from the N12 billion income made during the year.
Oloyede who spoke with newsmen in Ilorin, Kwara State on Monday said the board had effected changes in the  process and procedure for registration and conduct of examination for candidates to curb malpractices.
Contrary to the insinuation that the board increased the examination fee, which enabled the milestone, the JAMB boss said the agency rather made some reductions in the fee payable for the examination. He said the examination board also significantly reduced the amount paid for examination by foreign applicants, maintaining that it was aimed at encouraging huge number of them.
reports that JAMB currently charges the rate of Five thousand naira (N5,000.00) for the UTME registration, which includes N300 bank charges while candidates are to pay N700 for registration at the Computer Based Centres (CBT) accredited by the board. Also, foreign candidates have their fees slashed from between $120 and $100 paid last year to just $20.
Oloyede added that the agency introduced Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) in the bid to address the imbalance observed in the admission process for the applicants. He noted that with the introduction of the system, the process of admission into higher institutions of learning in the country has become more transparent, saying there was no need for any institution to come to the headquarters of the board for certain rectitude.
The university don stated that the board said JAMB is expecting a total of two million applicants to register for 2018 UTME and it had expanded its facilities by spending N1 billion last year, adding that 15,000 centres would be created for prospective UTME candidates this year.