ASHENEWS reports that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has denied reports that it has increased its examination registration fee.
This is contained in a statement issued on Monday by the JAMB Public Communication Advisor(PCA), Fabian Benjamin.
According to the statement, “This is far from the truth as the cost of obtaining the Board’s UTME application documents remains N3,500, which has been the cost of its application documents since it was brought down from N5,000 in 2018. Therefore, the Board wishes to state that the cost of application documents price has not been increased despite the prevailing economic reality in the country which has also affected the cost of the Board’s operations.”
The Board assured the general public that it had been doing all within its powers to ensure that candidates were not overburdened in any way.
“One of these measures is to deliberately keep cost low hence its decision to make available its Use of English reading text free of charge through a QR code to ensure that the increase in cost of production is not passed to candidates.
“Therefore, all UTME candidates would access the reading text free of charge through multiple channels, which include their profiles, e-mail addresses, notification slips, and the Board’s website.
“It is, however, pertinent to state the fact that what is being perceived in some quarters as an increment in its fees is nothing other than the fallout of its cashless policy through which all fees payable by candidates to CBT centers have been consolidated and are paid along with their application fees to prevent their wanton exploitation by unscrupulous center owners.
“These fees are in turn remitted to partnering centers on a weekly basis. For instance, candidates are expected to pay N700 for registration, N1500 as examination fees, and N1500 for the optional Mock-UTME at privately-owned centers.”
The statement noted that the Board had been resisting the call by its partnering and privately-owned centers for a drastic increase in the cost of the services they render to the candidates as a consequence of the current economic situation to which the Board has always maintained that its services are not for profit.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the 2024 UTME/DE e-PIN remains N3500. The registration fee of N700, which is to be paid to CBT centers by candidates, is now to be collected by the Board along with N1500, which is the cost of setting the main UTME, and N1500 as the cost of the optional Mock-UTME, etc are to be collected by the Board on behalf of the CBT centers.”
