News Investigators/ A total of 92 visually impaired candidates sat for the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Kano.
Prof. Muhammad Yahuza-Bello, the JAMB Coordinator for Kano centre, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen shortly after monitoring the exercise on Monday.
NAN reports that the examination was conducted at the School of Continuing Education, Bayero University Kano (BUK), under the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG) for special needs candidates.
Yahuza-Bello, a former vice chancellor of BUK, said the 92 candidates were drawn from Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna State.
“Out of the 92 candidates, two have Down syndrome, while two others have autism”, he said.
NAN reports that the candidates, comprising males and females, received various gadgets such as typewriters, braille machines, slates, styluses, paper, among others.
NAN also reports that trained personnel and invigilators were deployed to provide amanuensis services for candidates who required assistance to ease the examination process.
He said that over 500 candidates with special needs, such as visual impairment, albinism, Down syndrome, autism, and other conditions, registered to write the examination in 11 centres across the country.
“This initiative was introduced by the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, in 2017 to give equal educational opportunities to all, regardless of disability.
At CBT centres, the examination is displayed on computer screens and candidates choose options, but many of our candidates cannot read from screens or use keyboards,” he said.
“Our goal is to eliminate barriers to education, and the initiative builds upon JAMB’s ongoing reforms aimed at inclusivity, including the use of adaptive examination materials to meet diverse needs.”
The coordinator said the examinations taken by special needs candidates are of the same quality, and standard as those taken by regular candidates at CBT centres.
“Since its inception in 2017, JEOG has recorded success, with a growing number of candidates with special needs gaining admission into various tertiary institutions across the country.
“Only about 25 per cent of regular candidates gained admission into tertiary institutions, while over 33 per cent of special needs candidates secured admission,” he said.
He commended the Vice-Chancellor of BUK, Prof. Sagir Adamu Abbas, the Department of Special Needs BUK, the School of Continuing Education, and other institutions for offering admission to these candidates.
“As usual JAMB through JEOG has provided free accommodation, feeding and a token for transportation to all candidates during the examination period” he added
The coordinator presented Khadija, a former Kano centre candidate who scored over 240 in the UTME and now a final-year student at BUK, studying BSc Dietetics and Nutrition.
Khadija lauded the gesture and offered words of advice and encouragement to the candidates.
NAN