JAMB Excludes Diagrams, Others From Questions For Blind Candidates

Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has excluded diagrams, illustrations and maps in test items meant for the conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for candidates with disabilities.

JAMB revealed this yesterday in its weekly bulletin by its public communication advisor, Dr Fabian Benjamin.

The bulletin disclosed that JAMB registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, dropped this hint in Abuja during a virtual meeting with the nation’s commissioners for education.

The registrar, in his address, pointed out that the board would work towards ensuring that diagrams, illustrations and maps are eliminated in questions for blind candidates from the 2024 UTME with such questions having the same difficulty indices as others test items.

Oloyede further briefed the participants with respect to the various concerns that have been raised about the lack of adequate attention to the plight of candidates with other forms of disabilities other than the blind and deaf in the registration and conduct of the UTME.

He said these special provisions are to ensure that all candidates with disabilities are not disadvantaged on account of their situation. He added that the development was in line with the resolutions taken at the just- concluded conference titled: “National Conference on Equal Opportunity of Access to Higher Education in Nigeria.”

The conference was organised by JAMB-Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG).

The body, according to the registrar, had been at the forefront of coordinating all matters relating to candidates with disabilities. He disclosed that the following categories of candidates would now be listed under the disability group of the Board: Down Syndrome, Autism, Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).