Ben Ezechime, Enugu
No fewer than 61 visually-impaired candidates have sat for the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Enugu Special Centre.
The visually-impaired and other special candidates are part of the 577 others writing the examination nationwide under the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG) Committee.
The examination, holding at the Law Faculty of University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC), had candidates drawn from nine states of South-East and South-South regions, namely: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo as well as Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa States.
The candidates were writing with all sorts of writing aid, such as brailles, typewriters, stylos while some others wrote with pens.
Speaking, the Coordinator of the UTME Enugu Special Centre, Prof. Mosto Onuoha, explained that JAMB had introduced the visually-impaired UTME programme to give people with special needs equal opportunity to achieve their dreams of going to higher institutions of learning.
Onuoha, who is a former Deputy Vice Chancellor, UNN, and former President of Nigeria Academy of Science, said: “What is important is that JAMB recognises that people should have opportunities especially the physically challenged.
“This is a different kind of exam because they cannot do Computer-Based Test (CBT).
“We read the questions aloud for them and they pick answer options. They provide the answers. The only difference is that we extend their time for them.”
Another member of the JEOG 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 the past three days, the special needs candidates and their guides have been take care of free-of-charge. They will depart to their various states on Wednesday,” Okechukwu said.
He used the opportunity to call on the governors of the South-East and South-South, the chairmen of local government areas and traditional rulers to create awareness among people with disabilities to enable them access services of the JAMB.
According to him, with adequate awareness especially to parents of disabled persons, more candidates will be motivated to sit for the JAMB examinations.
“I am using this opportunity to appeal to the governors in the regions 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.
A candidate, Mr Obinna Eze, appreciated the special opportunity and treatment JAMB management is giving all physically challenged especially the visually-impaired.
Eze noted that the JEOG committee members treated them with special care and gave due attention to their needs before and during the examination.
