The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has organised the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for visually-impaired candidates in Enugu State, Nigeria’s south-east.
UTME is an annual examination organised by JAMB for candidates seeking to be admitted to tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
On Wednesday, when PREMIUM TIMES visited a UTME centre in Enugu for the visually-impaired candidates, over 20 of them were seen taking the examination.
The centre was inside the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.
Some JAMB officials were seen reading out the examination questions to the candidates, who in turn attempted answering the questions using their personal typewriters and other gadgets.
Why UTME for virtually-impaired candidates
The coordinator of the centre, Mosto Onuoha, told reporters that JAMB registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, conceived the idea of organising separate UTME examinations for the visually-impaired candidates across the country in recognition of their peculiar situation.
Mr Onuoha, a retired professor of geology at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, said the JAMB registrar kick-started the programme across the country in 2017 after creating JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), a coalition of people helping to organise the examinations for the candidates.
The coordinator said beyond the UTME centre in Enugu, the examination body also has 10 other centres across the six other geopolitical zones of the country.
He said the centre is the only UTME centre in the old Eastern Region of Nigeria.
“The whole idea is conceived because UTME candidates take computer-based tests and blind people cannot. So, we have to find a way of giving them the same exam. Whether they want to read law or sociology in the university or polytechnic,” he said.
The coordinator said the visually-impaired candidates take the same UTME examination questions in the computer-based tests taken by candidates without visually-impairment.
He said the difference lies in the method of conducting the UTME examinations and that the process of registering for the examination is the same.
“There were a total of 28 candidates who registered in this center, but only 27 candidates have shown up so far,” he said.
Mr Onuoha said that JAMB provided hotel accommodations for the candidates and fed them alongside their help until the conclusion of the examination.
The exam body “also gives them a token for their travel,” he said.
Asked if JAMB can sustain the initiative, the coordinator explained that the number of visually-impaired candidates taking the UTME examination represents a small fraction of the total UTME candidates per year.
“There are I.6 or 1.7 million UTME candidates every year. Less than 500 of them are blind. I think it is a good show of corporate social responsibility. So, I hope it will be sustained,” he said.
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Candidates speak
Speaking after taking one of the subjects in the UTME, a visually-impaired candidate, Franklin Ifeanyi, commended JAMB for considering their plight by making the special arrangements for them.
Mr Ifeanyi, who hopes to study law in the university, described the examination process as “excellent.”
Sarima Owhor, another visually-impaired candidate, said the arrangement by JAMB was the “best” so far.
“I want to thank JAMB for considering us and making it easier for us,” Ms Owhor, a resident of Rivers State, said.
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