The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has prohibited the use of smart watches, lenses (unless prescribed), calculators, smart rings, pens, Bluetooth devices, and flash drives during the 2024 Unified Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The board also warned candidates taking the exam from bringing those prohibited items into the examination halls for their own good, adding that all necessary arrangements had been made for the conduct of the examination.

The warning contained in JAMB's weekly publication, released on Monday in Abuja.

According to the publication, the 2024 UTME is scheduled to take place from Friday, April 19, 2024, to Monday, April 29, 2024, and will be held across over 700 Computer Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide.

It reiterated its zero-tolerance for examination infractions and other unwholesome practices that could be detrimental to the conduct of the examinations.

The board revealed that a total of 1, 985, 642 candidates had successfully registered to sit the 2024 UTME.

It, however, noted that it has directed candidates to print their 2024 UTME notification slips, which would enable them to know their examination centre as well as the date and time of their examination.

It similarly urged candidates to adhere to the etiquettes and guidelines of the examination as stipulated in their notification slips and be at the venue of their examination at the scheduled time so as to afford them the opportunity of going through biometric verification prior to their admittance into the examination hall.

The publication partly read: “Any candidate, who is 30 minutes late would not be allowed to sit the examination and would be marked as absent.

“In this regard, candidates are warned to steer clear of all the prohibited items, which have been banned from the examination centres.

“These items have been noted to have aided some dishonest candidates in their quest to perpetrate examination malpractice hence, the ban on these items is to protect the sanctity of the Board’s examinations."

It added, “Some of these items are: smart watches, smart lens (unprescribed glasses), calculators, smart rings, smart pens, bluetooth devices, flash drives, among others.

“Candidates are also advised to desist from the practice of using decorative designs or tattoos on their palms as these can impact their biometric screening at the centre.

“Parents are kindly requested to refrain from being around the examination premises, as the Board strictly prohibits parents from being present during the examination."

“Any candidate found with a parent in the examination vicinity will face penalties,” JAMB stated.