As thousands of candidates who applied for admission into the Yaba College of Technology YABATECH, Lagos, are unableto register online on their own for the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, screening, touts in and around the college have taken over such responsibility.
National Mirrorcan authoritatively report that the inability of many candidates to do the online registration even after following the procedure as stated on the institution’s website had indirectly forced them to patronise touts who work as agents for operators of cybercafé in and around the college.
When National Mirror visited the school last Friday, scores of touts at the gate approached our reporter alongside several other visitors at the time for patronage in respect of the online post-UTME screening registration.
Many of the prospective students told National Mirror that the development had caused them to part with N1, 000 in addition to the N1, 800 officially charged by the college for the purpose.
But the school authority denied knowledge of the candidates’ inability to register on their own.
The college’s spokesman, Mr. Adekunle Adams, told National Mirror at the weekend that the procedure for the registration was clearly stated in simple language on the school’s website for candidates to follow with the warning to prospective students to be wary of fraudsters.
He said the college adopted the system to make the registration convenient and easier for candidates who are spread across the country and that a candidate could encounter difficulty in registration only when he or she does not follow the procedure nor have adequate knowledge of the use of the internet.
Adams said candidates might also encounter problem in this respect when they only use ATM card code and not internet pin to be issued by their banks for the purpose of the registration.
He added that the college even ensured it protected its website to prevent unauthorised individuals from hacking into it to defraud unsuspected candidates.
“But at the same time, those who do not have access to internet will definitely have no option than to patronise cybercafé to apply for the exam since the school does not accept paper registration,” he said.
The public relations officer said the school had received about 15, 000 applications so far as at Friday from the over 100, 000 applications expected for the exam which will take place next month.
He added that while the college admitted only about 5,000 last year, it is expected to admit more candidates this year