The University of Calabar has commenced its Post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for at least 12,000 candidates seeking admission into the institution for the 2021/2022 academic session.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who visited the institution, reports that the campus was once again alive with the presence of the candidates at the designated centres and hawkers.
The Chairman of the Examination Committee, Prof. Takim Ojua, told NAN on Tuesday in Calabar that the exercise took off smoothly.
Ojua said that no fewer than 12,000 candidates applied for the examination, which will end on Oct. 27.
He said that a technical team was on ground to ensure that issues bordering on registration and access to the portal received swift attention during the three-day exercise.
He described the process of organising the candidates for examination for both the morning and afternoon sessions as “very tasking”.
Ojua further said that over 92 per cent of the candidates came to the examination venue with their bags and phones, against the committee’s directive.
“This posed an even greater challenge,” he said.
He decried the presence of some university staff members and parents, who accompanied their children and wards to the examination venue.
According to him, this is not necessary, since their presence will not have any influence on the performance of the candidates.
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Ojua said: “Staff members and parents should desist from coming to the venue to lobby for their wards.
“Every candidate will be attended to and given the same platform without any preferential treatment.”
He commended the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, for constituting a reliable committee to conduct the examination.
He urged the university authorities to increase the sitting capacity for the examination and also set up a stronger online network for the Computer-Based Test.
One of the candidates from Delta, Miss Joy Affe, who applied for Economics, said that the network was initially slow.
Affe said that she was able to attend to her questions in record time, the initial hiccup notwithstanding.
Another candidate, James Ogar, from Ogoja Local Government Area of the state, expressed satisfaction with the orderly manner the examination was conducted.
Ogar, who applied for Law, told NAN that he made Unical his first choice because of the testimony about the VC’s drive for excellence by the university.
