Parents of the candidates affected by the human error which led to a glitch in the 2025 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination have demanded the postponement of the planned resit, which begins today, till June 2025.
A post from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on its official X handle on Thursday stated, “…all the affected candidates will be contacted to reprint their examination slips towards retaking their examinations starting from 16th May, 2025 (today).”
One of the affected students posted on X the SMS he received after getting notification for the examination.
“You have been scheduled to sit the 2025 UTME Resit examination slated for Friday, May 16, 2025 by 12:00 pm. To know your centre, reprint your Examination slip by visiting.”
Some of the parents, who spoke in separate interviews with The PUNCH on Thursday, cited the traumatic experiences of the candidates, the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination, and the distance to the exam centres, among other issues.
On Wednesday, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board admitted a technical error that affected over 300,000 candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Speaking during a press conference, the JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, a professor, expressed deep regret over what he described as a disappointing setback in the exercise that had, until the glitch, been considered one of the most successful in recent years.
“So, I appeal to the candidates and those affected by the error of our system to accept this explanation as the truth of the matter without embellishment, please. I apologise and take full responsibility, not just in words,” he said.
Oloyede said the issue affected 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.
He said the glitch affected 206,610 candidates across 65 centres in Lagos State and 173,387 candidates in 92 centres across South East states.
While 54.37 per cent of candidates affected are in Lagos, the remaining 45.63 per cent are spread across Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu States.
Oloyede explained that the glitch was caused by a failed patch meant to update examination servers in the region.
He assured that the affected candidates could retake the examination between May 16 and May 18, 2025.
A parent, Mr Bukola Omoniyi noted that his child had since returned to his school located in Oyo state.
“This is not fair. You can’t say the children have to sit the examination immediately. They are currently doing WAEC. We got a text today (Thursday) saying he has to sit the examination on Saturday. Meanwhile, he is already in Ibadan. How will he rush down to Lagos because his centre is in Lagos, and then rush back to school? This is unfair.
“No one cares about the psychological trauma on these children. This was no fault of theirs, why should they be made to suffer consequences for what they know not?” he queried.
Another parent, Mrs Aisha Okikiola, noted that her child, who was preparing for a WAEC paper, had to start reading for UTME, which she said is confusing the candidate.
Some of the parents, who spoke in separate interviews with The PUNCH on Thursday, cited the traumatic experiences of the candidates, the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination, and the distance to the exam centres, among other issues.
On Wednesday, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board admitted a technical error that affected over 300,000 candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Speaking during a press conference, the JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, a professor, expressed deep regret over what he described as a disappointing setback in the exercise that had, until the glitch, been considered one of the most successful in recent years.
“So, I appeal to the candidates and those affected by the error of our system to accept this explanation as the truth of the matter without embellishment, please. I apologise and take full responsibility, not just in words,” he said.
Oloyede said the issue affected 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.
He said the glitch affected 206,610 candidates across 65 centres in Lagos State and 173,387 candidates in 92 centres across South East states.
While 54.37 per cent of candidates affected are in Lagos, the remaining 45.63 per cent are spread across Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu States.
Oloyede explained that the glitch was caused by a failed patch meant to update examination servers in the region.
He assured that the affected candidates could retake the examination between May 16 and May 18, 2025.
A parent, Mr Bukola Omoniyi noted that his child had since returned to his school located in Oyo state.
“This is not fair. You can’t say the children have to sit the examination immediately. They are currently doing WAEC. We got a text today (Thursday) saying he has to sit the examination on Saturday. Meanwhile, he is already in Ibadan. How will he rush down to Lagos because his centre is in Lagos, and then rush back to school? This is unfair.
“No one cares about the psychological trauma on these children. This was no fault of theirs, why should they be made to suffer consequences for what they know not?” he queried.
Another parent, Mrs Aisha Okikiola, noted that her child, who was preparing for a WAEC paper, had to start reading for UTME, which she said is confusing the candidate.
“My child is to resit the UTME on Saturday, and she has WAEC on Sunday. The two examination bodies have different syllabi. Do you know how difficult it is trying to juggle two different syllabuses at the same time? We are asking that JAMB postpone the examination till June, when the children will be done with their WAEC, so that they will have enough time to rest,” she demanded.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a principal in one of the Catholic schools in Enugu noted that the school reached out to parents to discuss arrangements for the UTME, describing the situation as taxing.
She stated, “It has not been easy for us. Almost all our students are having the resit. This is WAEC time. Some of them are scared because they have to start reading afresh. It will be kind and reasonable if JAMB can shift this examination to June, when the students would have concluded their WAEC. Some of them have centres very far away from here. We are talking about safety here.”
A parent in Imo, Mr Felix Onuoha, said, “I subscribe to the suggestion that the resit be moved to after WAEC so that the students will have ample time to study. What happened is not their fault, and they should not be punished for it.”
The National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria urged parents to cooperate with the examination body to ensure the success of the planned resit scheduled for students affected by the glitch.
Last year, 76 per cent of candidates who participated in the UTME scored less than 200 points.
According to JAMB, in 2022, 1.3mn candidates out of 1.7mn or 78 per cent, who took the 2022 UTME scored below 200.
In 2021, only 803 candidates out of 1.3 million –or 0.06 per cent– who sat the 2021 UTME scored above 300, Oloyede said at the time.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives on Thursday resolved to probe the technical error that led to the mass failure in the 2025 UTME.
The decision followed the consideration and adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Osun lawmaker, Adewale Adebayo.
