The registration for the UTME had earlier been scheduled to end on Saturday May 15, but with the look of things, it may now be extended to May 29, 2021. The examination, which is computer-based, earlier scheduled for June 5-19, may now start on June 19 and terminate on July 3, 2021. However, the mock exam would still hold on May 20, and it is a voluntary exercise for interested candidates. Sources told our correspondent that the steps became inevitable because as at Thursday night only about 1.3 million candidates had registered for the exam.
This is a far cry from the expected figure of over 2 million candidates. Last year, 2.1 million candidates sat for the same exam. The problem with this year’s registration is the inability of many applicants to link their National Identification Number, NIN, to their applications. Vanguard Learning had reported on Thursday the frustration by parents and candidates over the NIN linkage. Some of the candidates told our correspondent that they have spent thousands of naira on airtime without successfully linking their NIN to their applications. The government made the NIN compulsory this year after the idea was jettisoned last year following hiccups that dodged getting the NIN registration exercise. However, the situation was exacerbated this year when the government made NIN compulsory for all Nigerians of registrable age. Before now the National Identification Management Commission, NIMC, the agency saddled with generating NIN for the citizens, boasted that it was up to the task. The Head of Corporate Affairs of NIMC, Mr Kayode Adegoke, had given the assurance that the agency would be up to the task, but the reverse seem to be the case now.
