Exam board urges candidates to adopt pin vending process

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has urged candidates for the 2017 UTME test and beyond to adopt the pin vending approach over the use of scratch cards.

The disclosure was made on Wednesday, November 2, by the board’s Head of Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, in Lagos.

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Benjamin said that JAMB was done with scratch cards and is switching to pin vending, Punch reports.

He said, “Candidates, wishing to sit for the 2017 examination, should start getting themselves familiar with the newly adopted process of pin vending by the board.

“We must make ourselves open to change like it is obtained in other climes.

“We are no longer going back to the use of scratch card; that method is outdated.

“Candidates wishing to register for the examination will just make online payment and get a pin with which they can upload their data.

“This new pin vending will be accessible through the options of web payment, ATM issued cards like Visa, Verve, and Master card, online Quick Teller, mobile application and Bank Branch case/card.”

According to Punch, Benjamin also said that the board was working towards redressing all the challenges candidates experienced during the 2016 UTME.

He said that everything is being put in place to make sure that the examination process will be conducted without any hitches.

“Preparations are on to ensure that all the technical hitches that manifested in the 2016 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination do not arise again.

“That is not to say that the examination will be completely hitch-free.

“But we are deploying resources to correct the ones identified already.

“In the course of the examination, should there be any other new challenges, we will act promptly," he said.

The spokesman also said that the validation of UTME centres across the country would begin soon.

“We shall be going round to the proposed centres to check the state of their facilities and also to ensure that such facilities could accommodate a minimum of 250 candidates,” he said.

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Some challenges lamented over by 2016 candidates ranged from the incomplete upload of questions from servers to poor backup facilities in some centres among others.

The board’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, first announced that scratch cards would be scrapped, calling the system outdated.

He also added that the removal of the method would go a long way to curb fraudulent practices.