A further 531 applicant results from the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) have been made public by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). JAMB had withheld over 64,000 results due to possible exam violations; these results were among those that were made public.
This development has taken the total number of results released so far to 1,842,897.
The board, in a statement, Tuesday, by its spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, said it was
looking at cases of unverified candidates and would soon come up with a position.
The statement reads in full, “As promised, the Board is proceeding with the screening of over 64,000 withheld results. It has, however, released additional 531 results taking the total number of results released to 1,842,897. In the course of the exercise, other cases of examination misconduct were also established to make a tally of 92 from the 81 initially discovered.
“The Board is also looking at cases of unverified candidates and would soon come up with a position.
“Similarly, the attention of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB) has been drawn to some fallacious publications purporting that an unknown candidate, who did not sit the Board’s 2024 UTME, obtained scores.
“This is fake, malicious and a calculated attempt to undermine the integrity of the Board. The public is urged to disregard such irresponsible publications.
“To underscore the fact that the publication is crafted by mischief makers to paint the Board in bad light, the publication, which levels such a grevious allegation, has no details of the candidate for proper verification.
“The Board is not surprised as this is the season of mischief makers, who would want to deceive gullible candidates. The examination template of the Board is designed with the highest sense of responsibility and is not an allocation platform where scores are doled out to candidates.
“It is most unfortunate that anybody could even believe such narration or that the story could even gain traction given the Board’s integrity.
“This again has gone to further vindicate the Board’s stance that candidates should desist from disclosing their classified details to third-parties.
“In investigating some of these allegations, the Board discovered that some of these mischief makers copy results sent to other candidates, edit the details sent to themselves and then parade this as emanating from the Board.
“The Board challenges any candidate, parent or anybody with such a claim or information to prove it wrong by coming forward with the details of such claims and the phone number with which such results were conveyed.
“The attitude of these mischief makers would only propel the Board to further tighten the process of checking its results to make it more personalized and sure would be stringent when it should actually be a simple and straightforward exercise.
“The Board reiterated that neither its results nor any of its processes have been compromised. Hence, it will continue to protect the integrity of its systems against such malicious actors, who are hell-bent on creating confusion where none existed.
“Consequently, the Board is primed to adding more features like registration number to the existing UTME Result checking process going forward to make it extra difficult for anybody to edit.
“Candidates are, therefore, urged to securely keep their details secure for if they are found associating with any of these mischievous elements, they would be treated as collaborators.
“For now, the method of checking the 2024 UTME remains sending UTMERESULT to 55019 or 66019 and not through any other process. The result, at the moment, is not on the Board’s website.”
In order to prevent exam fraud and protect the integrity of its exams, JAMB needs to continue being watchful and proactive. This calls for a multifaceted strategy that tackles the underlying issues that lead to malpractice as well as the structural flaws that allow it to happen. To ensure that all applicants are evaluated equally and impartially, JAMB may enhance the credibility of its exams by cultivating a culture of honesty, accountability, and transparency.
The JAMB’s announcement of the extra 531 results brings to light the continued difficulties in upholding the integrity of exams in Nigeria’s educational system. Although the board’s efforts to combat examination misconduct are praiseworthy, innovation and constant improvement are required to keep up with changing threats. JAMB can maintain the credibility of its exams and make sure they continue to be an accurate indicator of students’ academic ability by placing a high priority on integrity, fairness, and due process.
