JAMB: No special cut-off marks for candidates with disabilities

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG) has said candidates with disabilities are admitted into tertiary institutions based on the same standards as every other applicant, insisting that no concessions are made in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Chairman of JEOG, Emeritus Professor Peter Okebukola, stated this on Wednesday at the National Stakeholders’ Engagement on Inclusivity and Higher Education held at the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja.

He said candidates with disabilities write the same UTME, answer the same questions and are assessed using the same admission criteria as other candidates.

“We do not lower standards for these candidates. They sit for the same UTME, answer the same questions and are assessed by the same standards as every other candidate,” Okebukola said.

He disclosed that JEOG has supported 4,216 candidates with disabilities over the past 10 years, with an average of 53 per cent securing admission annually into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

The event marked the 10th anniversary of JEOG, established by the outgoing JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, to promote equal access to tertiary education.

Okebukola also said artificial intelligence (AI) would play a major role in making higher education more inclusive by improving learning opportunities for persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups.

He also unveiled a manual to guide parents, lecturers and tertiary institutions in supporting underage students admitted into universities.

He said the first cohort comprises 96 students below the age of 16.

The event also featured the presentation of a commemorative book, A Peep into the Future of Higher Education in Nigeria, which examines the future of tertiary education in the country.

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