The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has said it is not going to reduce the cost of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for 2019 exercise.
In the past few years, the cost has remained at N5,000. But there have been calls for a downward review following a constant remittance of over N7 billion realized from the sale of forms and other miscellaneous services by the Board.
JAMB Registrar, Mr. Ishaq Oloyede told journalists on Thursday in Abuja, that it is yet to give it a thought. He added that the call for the reduction of the registration fee of its candidates is baseless.
Oloyede questioned why the agitators are not asking other boards like WAEC, NECO, NABTEB to reduce the cost of their exams.
“The secret was that we have means of managing the resources properly to the point that we now have what could be called surplus.
“That was largely because we are open enough to return the surplus to government. That might be the reason for the intense call for downward review of the cost,” Oloyede said.
However, he said the exam body would only follow directive from the appropriate authorities on issues that concern cost of the UTME forms.
“If the government feels we should adjust, we will adjust and not as a result of unqualified, baseless request in some quarters,” he said.
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