NCE urges exempting candidates with disabilities and prison inmates from Post-UTME

The NCE has demanded that post-UTME screening be waived for candidates with disabilities and prisoners, and that entrance to postsecondary institutions be extended to those who meet minimal qualifications.

The decision was one of the communique items from the body’s 67th meeting, which concluded this past weekend in Ikeja, Lagos.

The National Universities Commission (NUC), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the National Examinations Council (NEC), the Minister of Education, Commissioners for Education throughout the nation, and other organisations and bodies involved in education make up the National Examinations Council (NEC), the highest decision-making body in the nation for education.

“The Ministerial Session was presided over by the Honourable Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, SAN. The theme of the meeting was “Addressing the Challenges of Policy Implementation: A Panacea for the Achievement of Education 2030 Agenda.”

The blind, deaf, those with Down syndrome, those with dyslexia, and those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are among the candidates with disabilities for which exclusions apply.

During the conference, the Re-entry Guidelines for girls who dropped out of school due to marriage or pregnancy were also drafted.

“Council deliberated on a total of sixty memoranda submitted by the various state Ministries of Education, the FCT Education Secretariat and the Federal Ministry of Education. Council emphasized the importance of focusing on foundational education and re-iterated their commitment to deal with the embarrassing situation of Out of School Children and the Almajiris in the country.

“Council also expressed its appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for exempting the Tertiary Institutions from the Integrated Payment and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and autonomy to recruit their own staff, for which the Ministry would develop guidelines to guard against the abuses that were observed.

“The NCE approved some major policy decisions that would guide implementation of the education sector in the next one years, especially the following: the draft Roadmap for the Implementation of Quality Early Childhood Care Development and Education (ECCDE); the implementation of the Education for Renewed Hope: A Roadmap for the Nigerian Education Sector (2024 – 2027) by stakeholders as a means to addressing the challenges of education,” the communique also read