By Abasi Ita
The management of the University of Cross River State has attributed delays in the release of students’ results to technical challenges arising from the migration of academic records from an old portal to a new digital platform.
University officials made the clarification on Tuesday during a press briefing at the Ernest Etim Bassey Press Centre in Calabar, following growing concerns and protests by students over the delay.
The Director of Exams and Results, Dr Anderson Etika, said the current administration, led by Vice Chancellor Prof Francisca Bassey, inherited the challenge upon assumption of office on January 26, 2025.
According to him, the transition from the old result portal to the new system was complicated by compatibility issues and funding constraints, which eventually led to the shutdown of the legacy portal before all records were successfully transferred.
“There was a huge volume of data on the old portal which had to be moved to the new one. Unfortunately, the two systems could not properly communicate, and when the old portal was shut down, retrieving the data became difficult,” Etika explained.
He said the university initially considered reverting to manual retrieval of hard copy results dating back to 2002 but later succeeded in recovering part of the data stored on the old cloud system.
Etika disclosed that results from the 2017 to the 2023 academic sessions have now been successfully migrated to the new portal, describing the exercise as a major achievement given the volume of data involved.
He acknowledged that discrepancies could occur during such migrations but stressed that the new portal has strengthened transparency and accountability in the management of students’ results.
“The new system allows students to access their results almost immediately after upload. More importantly, results can no longer be altered without the express approval of the Vice Chancellor,” he said.
The Director of Exams and Results also alleged that resistance to the new system was coming from individuals who previously benefited from loopholes in the old arrangement.
“Some lecturers and students who manipulated the system in the past can no longer do so. That is part of the reason for the agitation we are seeing,” he stated.
While sympathising with students affected by the delays, particularly those awaiting graduation, Etika appealed for understanding, noting that accuracy must take precedence over speed.
“Results are sensitive documents. Rushing the process could lead to serious errors, including the award of wrong degrees. We are making steady progress and the situation will soon be fully resolved,” he assured.
Also speaking, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Prof Stella Maris Okey, said the university management was fully on top of the situation and expressed optimism that normalcy would return shortly.
Other members of the management team present at the briefing included the Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration, Prof Thomas Ojikpong, and the Acting Registrar, Barrister Uno I Ogban, among others.