The registrar and Chief Executive Officer of Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is’haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, has hinted that, a total of two million applicants are expected to register for 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Oloyede also disclosed that the examination body returned N7.8billion to the federal government coffers from the proceeds of examination forms sold in 2017.
He said the fund was sourced from the N12billion income made during the year.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, Kwara State capital yesterday, Oloyede also said the board had effected changes in the process and procedure for registration and conduct of the examination for candidates to curb hitherto malpractices in the processes.
He added that the agency had made some reductions in the fee payable for the examination by the candidates contrary to the insinuations that the body has increased its examination fee.
He said the examination board also significantly reduced the amount paid for exam by foreign applicants, maintaining that it was aimed at encouraging huge number of them.
Oloyede informed that the agency introduced Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) aimed at addressing 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.
Oloyede, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, said the system involved by the agency is making 90 per cent of admission to be based on merit.
He also stated that the board had expanded its facilities by spending N1billion last year, adding that 15,000 centres would be created for prospective UTME candidates this year.
