Nigerians on social media have knocked the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for scheduling examinations for candidates for as early as 7 a.m.

Candidates seeking admission to Nigerian tertiary institutions sit in the JAMB-administered Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

JAMB has also scheduled some sessions for 7 a.m., raising concerns, especially for candidates whose examination venues are not close to their residences.

Most examination centres take candidates in three batches: 7 a.m., 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.

PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday spoke to a candidate who travelled over 50 kilometres from Gwagwalada to sit the Computer-based examination at the Tudun Wada CBT Hub, Government Secondary School (GSS), Zone 4 in Abuja.

But Nigerians on social media express worry that candidates from far distances may miss the exams by 7 a.m.

They called on the examination body to look into rescheduling the morning examination.

Condemnation

An X user, @Ogunsbaba_85038, wrote: “This 7 am exam is insensitive, security wise, and distance factor, at least exam can start by 9 am.”

Another user, @ShegsGraphics12, raised the alarm that some candidates who were scheduled to take the examination by 7 a.m. and came late weren’t allowed to take the exams at the Wisdom House CBT centre at Ogba, Lagos.

“@JAMBHQ, please look into some of the candidates that couldn’t write their exams due to several circumstances,” the user posted.

JAMB had asked candidates to be at their examination venue before their time of examination, stressing in one of its posts that “any candidate that is late to the examination centre is considered absent.”

More than 1.9 million candidates are scheduled to take the examination between Friday, 19, and Monday, 29 April.

But JAMB Spokesperson Fabian Benjamin told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday that the examination doesn’t start at precisely 7 a.m.

He said the 7 a.m. allowed candidates to settle down and familiarise themselves with the CBT centres before the examination.