Stakeholders have appealed to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to revisit its examination plans for the forthcoming Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
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They made the appeal on Monday, saying there was the need for the board to open more examination centres for candidates seeking to write its paper test.
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While this year's Paper Pencil Test and Dual- Based Test will hold on April 5, the agency has yet to fix a date for the Computer-Based Test.
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A lawyer and an educationist, Mr. Yomi Giwa, who frowned on the dearth of PPT centres in the ongoing registration exercise, said JAMB, by the action, had disenfranchised many candidates seeking to write the paper-based test.
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The development, he said, was worrisome, adding that the plan of the examination body was to compel the candidates to write the CBT.
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Giwa, who stressed the need for freedom of choice, said the imposition of the CBT on the candidates was "strange."
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Besides, he stated that there was no guarantee that it would be hitch-free.
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He said, "Has JAMB made provisions for such lapses as power failure and the sudden collapse of the server? Even if it has, that is no justification for forcing candidates to take the CBT.
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"Look at what happened the other day at the University of Lagos. Its server went down as potential postgraduate students were writing their qualifying examinations. What is the assurance that the candidates will experience a hitch-free examination?"
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Another parent, who craved anonymity because he is a civil servant, faulted the alleged imposition of the CBT on candidates.
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He said, "The exam body is unfair to the candidates. The choice is for the candidates to make. If one prefers the PPT, one should be allowed to use the process, but if another wants the CBT, so be it.
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"Again, the computers can develop a fault on the examination day. Is it not the candidates that will be at the receiving end?
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"As far as I am concerned, we are not mature enough for that. In e-banking in the country, there are many occasions where customers were debited without getting any money. So, what is the assurance that the computers will not crash on the examination day and so frustrate the candidates?"
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Also, a teacher in a Lagos private school, Mr. Babatunde Nurudeen, while criticising the CBT initiative, said many students were not conversant with computers.
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The teacher, who urged JAMB to engage in more enlightenment campaign, said the new platform would frustrate many candidates, especially those from local schools.
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According to him, in such institutions, there are no computers, Internet and other modern communication facilities.