The Registrar of the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oluyede, voiced his concern over parents impersonating their children to write exams for them.
According to him, cheating doesn’t pay but rather they are destroying the future of their children.
He disclosed this in Kaduna on a Wednesday while addressing journalists shortly after inspecting a JAMB centre located inside Kaduna State University.
He disclosed a recent case where a father was caught writing an exam for his son and emphasized that cheating doesn’t pay.
Oluyede mentioned advancements in technology aiding the board in apprehending such individuals.
“We have a case of a father impersonating his son, writing examinations for the son and I wonder, are you not destroying your son’s future?
“Two of them are now in custody. I can’t understand what the father will now tell his son when they are both locked up in the same cell. This definitely happened not in Kaduna, but I don’t want to disclose the state.
“So, it is largely cases of impersonation, but we are ahead of them
“We are just picking them up like chickens now, because the facilities are there for us to see what they are doing and to pick them up.
“And even those that we have left for research purposes, they will see what will happen after the exams,” he stated.
The Registrar highlighted cases of individuals possessing two National Identification Numbers (NIN), undermining identity verification, and vowed to address the issue with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
He stated that JAMB cannot accommodate candidates who miss exams due to personal negligence, emphasizing that the UTME is not school-based and candidates bear responsibility for meeting requirements.
“Most of those candidates who missed the UTME are students from hostels who were made to register through schools because of the money the schools want to collect from the parents in the name of JAMB, would now put 30 students in one bus.
“They will now be dropping them in different locations. By the time they get to the last student’s centre, he is already late for the exam. You will now see principal writing to me. What business do I have with a school?,,”
He also reaffirmed that UTME results are valid for only one year, as it is a ranking exam, not an achievement test.
