- “UTME and DE are two forms meant for two different categories of candidates at different times and so their portals are never expected to close the same time based on practice in previous years.
University admission seekers through Direct Entry, IJMB and JUPEB have appealed to the minister of Education and the registrar of JAMB to extend 2019 direct entry registration, saying that the closure of the portal in February was unusual and unproductive.
The appeal, made through Association of Stakeholders for Education Advancement of Nigeria (ASEAN), said that closure of the portal during the last general election in February had created uncertainty for thousands of the university admission seekers.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Monday, national president of the group, Comrade Olawuyi Olufemi, lamented that the admission seekers are likely to waste one year with the alleged sudden closure of the portal, adding that the development could cause, “a serious setback for these candidates and for the society at large.
“Their closure of the Direct Entry registration in February 2019 was unusual. From the previous practice, the direct entry portal normally closes by July every year. This explains why the Advanced Level candidates never expected the portal to close that soon.
“There was not enough publicity for the A Level, IJMB, JUPEB and diploma students before the closure of the DE portal. The notification was only available to the UTME candidates and people who visited the JAMB portal during the time.
“UTME and DE are two forms meant for two different categories of candidates at different times and so their portals are never expected to close the same time based on practice in previous years.
“We also expect that any change in the existing policies should be given wide publicity through the mass media and enough time given to effect needed changes. Last year, the JAMB registrar closed the 2018 DE portal in July. So, no one would expect the same JAMB registrar to change the usual closure period to February.
“Furthermore, most of the affected students have neither their examination numbers nor have seen their results with which to register for the direct entry as at the time the portal was closed in February 2019”.
