JAMB Dismisses Candidates' Fear of Biometric Verification

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The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, introduced the biometric identification verification exercise as the basis of entry into examination centres for candidates partaking in the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination slated for 11 to 15 April, 2019.

JAMB logo

Although JAMB has expressed ultimate confidence in the system, many candidates have expressed their fears in the ability of JAMB’s staff to carry out the biometric exercise efficiently, as well as the possibility that the gadgets themselves could malfunction, resulting in the affected candidates being disallowed from taking the exam.

The biometric identification verification technology adopted by JAMB is that of fingerprint verification, which has a number of flaws like how fingerprint recognition on the scanner can be affected by the slightest offset for a fraction of a millimetre, a change in pressure, skin damage and some other circumstances that affect the resulting image. Consequently, the scans of the same finger or face will always be different.

However, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB in an attempt to allay the fears of candidates over biometric verification, has said that the capturing of candidate’s ten fingers have made it impossible to record disappointment during biometric verification.

Dr Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Head of Media, explained that the board chose to use the whole ten fingers instead of just one, to serve as backup in case of failure. He asked stakeholders not to panic over possible failure in the biometric verification, insisting that it was not possible for any candidate’s whole ten fingers captured to fail the biometric verification.

His said, “You know, we are capturing ten fingers and we believe that ten fingers are sufficient enough for any backup in the biometric verification.”