JAMB Introduces Bimodal System of UTME Administration for the First Time
Eleven locations in Nigeria will play host to the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which 577 visually impaired applicants will be preparing for.
During a press event on Thursday, this was disclosed by Emeritus Professor Peter Okebukola, who is also the Chairman of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Equal Opportunity Group.
Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the JAMB registrar, created the JEOG in 2017 to aid visually impaired students and other students with special needs in taking the UTME.
For the first time, this year’s UTME will include a bimodal system, with candidates able to pick between Fully-Braille and Fully Read-Aloud modes, as stated by Okebukola.
To make sure that applicants have a good time taking the exam, JAMB has equipped them with materials. Thanks in great part to JEOG’s campaigning, 577 blind applicants took part in the 2024 UTME, a significant improvement over prior years.
The president of the Global University Network for Innovation, Professor Okebukola, praised Professor Oloyede for his efforts in promoting higher education equity in Africa. During the test, he announced that anybody who is blind and meets the minimum admissions standards will be able to have their UTME registration money back.
Since 2017, Oloyede has provided blind applicants with transportation help, free hotel accommodation, Braille slates and styluses, personalized t-shirts, meals throughout the test time, and a fee refund, among other advantages. These actions were lauded by Okebukola as being unmatched in Africa.
Announcing his decision to propose Oloyede for the CNN Heroes Award, he emphasized Oloyede’s meritorious contributions to education and encouraged support for his candidacy.
Among the blind applicants and center coordinators, the most numerous were in Kano (138 total), then Lagos (88 total). The following locations of centers were also mentioned: Abuja, Ado-Ekiti, Bauchi, Benin, Enugu, Kebbi, Oyo, Jos, and Yola; organizers for these centers included several previous university officials.
On April 22 and 23, 2024, at eleven different locations, blind applicants will take the unaided UTME, which consists of twenty topics. Okebukola made it clear that blind applicants will be subject to the same rigorous testing criteria as sighted ones.
Additionally, JAMB has specifically ordered that no parent should be present at any computer-based testing (CBT) center during the UTME.
Parents who were too engaged during prior tests created problems; therefore, this measure was taken to prevent that.
Professor Oloyede has threatened to arrest any parent whose child fails to comply with this instruction, and the youngster in question will also be unable to take the test.
JAMB Introduces Bimodal System of UTME Administration for the First Time
