The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has stated that the mass failure in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) recently conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is a reflection of total collapse of public education in Nigeria.
The ERC slammed the exams board over what it described as “the inefficiency of JAMB” and demanded financial compensation for the affected candidates and urgent corrective measures of JAMB’s failure.
The campaign recalled that JAMB under the leadership of Registrar Prof Is-haq Oloyede, recently admitted to errors in the results released for nearly 380,000 candidates from Lagos and five South-East states.
It noted that the admission of the errors by the exams body came after widespread public outrage over the mass failure recorded, which has become a recurring issue with the conduct of the UTME.
In a statement jointly signed by Comrade Ogunjimi Isaac, Deputy National Coordinator and Adaramoye Michael Lenin, National Mobilisation Officer, the ERC criticised Oloyede’s public apology, dismissing it as “crocodile tears” and insufficient to absolve the examination body of accountability.
“Probably, left to Oloyede and his team, they would have continued to live in denial while placing the blame on innocent candidates,” the statement reads.
The ERC welcomed the decision to allow affected candidates to retake the exam but raised serious concerns about the timing.
JAMB has scheduled the fresh exam to begin on Friday, May 16, 2025, a date the ERC says does not take into account the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), in which many of the affected candidates are also sitting.
“The excuse of the Registrar that the candidates are already prepared because of WAEC is fallacious,” the ERC stated, explaining that UTME and SSCE differ significantly in structure and preparation requirements.
The group demanded that the fresh exams be postponed until after the conclusion of the SSCE in June, pointing out that university admissions processes generally do not begin until September, leaving sufficient time for preparations.
The ERC called on JAMB to provide financial compensation to all affected students, citing the significant logistical and emotional costs the board’s error has imposed on the candidates.
Beyond the current mishap, the ERC linked the UTME failure to broader systemic issues in Nigeria’s educational sector.
They noted that over 78% of candidates scored below 200 marks, suggesting not only JAMB’s shortcomings but also the ongoing collapse of public education due to underfunding and neglect.
“JAMB’s inefficiency is connected to the collapse of public education. Despite over a decade of computer-based testing, most public schools lack basic ICT infrastructure,” the statement noted.
The ERC urged Nigerians to demand a better-funded and democratically managed education system, warning that continued inaction by the government, particularly the current administration under President Bola Tinubu, will only worsen the crisis.
