The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commenced the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for visually impaired candidates across eleven centres in Nigeria.
A total of 364 blind candidates are set to participate in the special examination, which is being supervised by the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG) from the 27th to the 29th of April.
The Chairman of the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group, Professor Peter Okebukola, has lauded the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, for the special arrangement made for the visually impaired candidates.
He stated that the Oloyede-led JAMB is committed to ensuring that every eligible Nigerian, regardless of disability, can take the UTME.
Professor Okebukola disclosed that since 2017, JEOG had processed about 2,600 candidates for the UTME, with over a third of them admitted to higher education institutions in Nigeria, mainly universities.
This initiative by JAMB has been commended by several countries over the last four years as a good model for Africa.
The examination administration for blind candidates is blended, involving the use of Personal Computers (PCs) and traditional Braille slate and stylus/typewriters to write answers to questions read out by a subject expert. Blind candidates take the same test items as non-blind candidates.
Professor Okebukola revealed that JAMB has approved the gradual migration to the full Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode customized for blind candidates, starting in 2024.