The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the multiple fees being imposed on candidates of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
At the plenary on Wednesday, the House mandated its Committee on Basic Education to “investigate the multiple processing and/or administrative fees imposed by JAMB and its accredited agents on JAMB candidates.”
The committee is to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
The probe was based on a motion titled ‘Call to Investigate the Imposition of Multiple Processing and/or Administration Fees by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and its Accredited Agents on JAMB Examination Candidates,’ which the lawmakers unanimously adopted.
A member of the House, Sergius Ogun, who moved the motion, said in recent times, in addition to the registration fees for the examination, “all sorts of processing and/or administrative fees are imposed on JAMB examination candidates.”
He said, “For every other service, apart from the JAMB registration provided in relation to the examination, an administrative fee is imposed by JAMB, which does not include the CBT Centre Service Charge collected by JAMB accredited CBT Centers and some of the charges.”
The lawmaker listed the charges to include Application for Transfer, N7,000; Change of Admission Letter with Registration Number, N5,000; application for correction of data (like date of birth, etc.), N2,500; printing of JAMB result slip, N1,000; printing of JAMB admission letter, N1,000; change of institution/course, N2,500; and retrieving of JAMB registration number, N1,000.
Ogun said, “The House is cognisant that by the provisions of the Act, JAMB is an examination conducting body and not primarily a revenue-generating organ of the Federal Government.
“The House is worried that JAMB candidates who are not privileged to afford the charges/fees suffer undue hardships and ultimately lose out from taking the examination;
“The House is also worried that a majority of the candidates dwell in villages, often without CBT accredited centres, and as such would have to travel long distances and incur additional transportation costs in order to register for the examination or carry out a JAMB related service offered only in a CBT Centre.”
