"We Won't Sell UTME Forms Till January 2019" ...JAMB

The sale of registration forms for the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will no longer start this December but January 2019, an official has said.

Dr Fabian Benjamin, the Head, Media and Information of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, organisers of the UTME, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

Benjamin said that the board had thought of starting the sale in December but dropped the idea following Federal Government’s reduction in the registration fee with effect from January 2019.

“The attention of the board has been drawn to information going round in some social media that JAMB has already begun the sale of forms for UTME.

“We are not commencing sale of the forms until January 2019, and the window period will be for six weeks.

“Prospective candidates should note this period in order not to fall prey to fraudsters,’’ he said.

Benjamin gave the assurance that the board would make adequate publicity toward the sale of the UTME.

According to him, the board would comply with the directive on reduction of the registration cost.

NAN reports that President Muhammadu Buhari last Wednesday approved reduction of the fee from N5,000 to N3,500, ahead of the 2019 UTME.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, announced reduction after the Federal Executive Council meeting.

According to him, the cost registration for Senior Secondary Certificate Examination charged by the National Examination Council will also reduce – from N11,350 to N9,850 – while that of Basic Education Certificate Examination, also charged by NECO, will reduce from N5,500 to N4,000.

The minister said that the reduction would become effective from January 2019.

-NAN