UNILORIN Post-UTME 2012 Candidates Decry Poor Registration

Candidates who intend to sit for the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination at the University of Ilorin have raised the alarm over the challenges they encounter in registering for the test.

Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, the candidates alleged that they were being frustrated by the alleged epileptic network and constant breakdown of the institution’s website server.

They also alleged that they had been forced to spend more money and time to register, all to no avail.

The prospective students said despite the extension of the deadline, many of them may not register for the test if the problems were not addressed promptly.

They appealed to the authorities of UNILORIN to rectify the problems or extend the time to enable all eligible candidates to register for the test.

According to some of them who were successful in registering after many times of trial, they are yet to be scheduled for the test.

One of those who have not been able to register said, "So far it has been very tedious. Personally, I have been doing it for the past four days now and I have not been able to get through. We have this problem of loading in a particular registration number with a pass word, and it gives you another person’s name over time; so you have to go back and re-enter over and over again. Sometimes, it tells you that the data base crashed or the server is busy. All along, it has been hell. It will certainly affect my registration. Up till now, I have not been registered.

"The deadline was initially Friday, I was afraid that I would not partake in the exercise but I later learnt that it had been extended till June 14. That gave me more hope and I had to come back to continue to try.”

Another prospective student, said, "It has been a bad experience because at times the network and the server will go and most times, the website will be too slow. We have had to waste so much money and time yet there is no fruitful result. It has been affecting my registration. Since last week Tuesday, I have been trying. I have not even completed the first step of the registration, that is, the payment.

"We were thinking that it would be okay yet it has not been so. If the problems are not solved, some of us may not register.”

The Chief Executive Officer, Medcafe Internet Services, Mr. Olorunjuwon Medaiyese , said he had been having hectic time trying to register the candidates. According to him, many of the candidates transferred their frustration on the cybercafé operators and accused them of being responsible for their plight.

He stated that over 200 students troop in daily to register at his café. According to him, efforts to adopt night shift in expectation of better network or website service, had been futile.

He said, "It has been hectic. The registration is not going at all. Even at night, most of the time, we run night shift, thinking the website will be right. We have been having sleepless nights and hectic time trying to register the students. The worst is payment. We are to pay with their ATM. It has been hell.

"The candidates need admission and they have been complaining, thinking it is the café operators that are delaying them but we have been trying to make them understand that we are not the problem. That the problem is UNILORIN’s website.

"Some of them abuse us that our internet is not working well. Many of them have been flooding here. I have a minimum of 200 per day. Some even buy time as much as N1,500 which is for 15 hours without doing anything. The registration date initially was June 1 to 8 but because of the network breakdown, it was extended till Thursday, June 14. They were supposed to write the exams on June 11 and 12 but now the exams will now start from Monday (yesterday) and end on Saturday ."

The Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs, UNILORIN, Mr. Ibrahim Akogun, on Monday said the difficulty being encountered by candidates was as a result of the high traffic on the university’s website.

He stated that candidates for post graduate admission and the Post-UTME are all trying to access the portal at the same time, adding that this has posed some technical challenges which, according him, are being addressed.

He said because of the difficulty, UNILORIN extended its post-UTME registration period to June 14 to give all eligible candidates a chance to register. "Traditionally, UNILORIN conducts its post-UTME text in July or August of every year when the post-graduate admission exercise would have gone past online application stage. But this year, we have to conduct it in June in deference to the directive that the first batch of undergraduate admission must be concluded this month. There is no cause for alarm,” Akogun said.

Source: Punch