On Tuesday, April 23, 61 blind students took part in the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Enugu through the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG).
The candidates are among 577 others who are taking the exam around the nation. Candidates from nine southeast and south-south states, including Imo, Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa, took part in the examination, which was held at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus.
The candidates included persons with blindness, autism, down syndrome, and other disabilities, which required them to use various writing aids such as brailles, typewriters, stylos, and pens.
Speaking with reporters about the exercise, Prof. Mosto Onuoha, coordinator of the UTME Blind Enugu Centre, explained that JAMB had introduced the blind UTME programme to give people with special needs an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams of attending university or higher learning institutions.
Onuoha, who is a former deputy Vice Chancellor of UNN, and former president of Nigeria Academy of Science, said: “What is important is that JAMB recognizes that people should have opportunities, especially the physically challenged.
“This is a different kind of exam because they can’t do computer-based tests(CBT).
“We read the questions for them and options. They provide the answers. The only difference is that we extend their time for them”.
Another member of the committee and provost, Federal College of Education (Technical), Isu, Ebonyi State, Prof. Okey Okechukwu, disclosed that in order to encourage and motivate the candidates, JAMB took care of their transportation, feeding and accommodation for three days with those of their guides starting from Sunday when they arrived till Wednesday when they would depart to their various states.
Prof. Okechukwu utilised the opportunity to urge the governors of the Southeast and Southsouth, as well as the chairmen of local government areas and traditional rulers, to raise awareness among individuals with disabilities so that they can use JAMB services.
According to him, with proper information, particularly among parents of disabled individuals , more candidates will be inspired to sit for the JAMB examinations.
“I’m using this opportunity to appeal to the governors in the Southeast and their Southsouth counterparts to create awareness so that many parents will get to know this kind of arrangement JAMB has put in place to encourage and motivate them so that we get more candidates in future” , Okechukwu said in a press release.