… target to enroll 825,000 disabilities students in next five years
By Joy Odor
The Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Tanko Sununu on Tuesday affirmed that Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has obtained approval to exempt students living with disabilities (PWDs) from Post/UTME Screening at the 67th National Council on Education meeting and charged other Africa Regional universities to follow suit.
He also announced that all tertiary institutions in Nigeria are to offer admissions to all candidates with disabilities who possess minimum admissible scores into the programmes of their choice after writing UTME.
The Minister made the disclosure during his speech at the First Africa Regional Conference on Equal Opportunity of Access to Higher Education (ARCEAHED) held in Abuja that draw participants from Ethiopia, Malawi, Egypt and other African countries.
According to him, the Ministry target to enroll 825,000 students with disabilities cumulatively over the next five years, demonstrates Nigeria unwavering commitment to realizing equal access to education.
Sununu informed that the DOTS policy takes into consideration the unique needs of the vulnerable groups vis-à-vis their needs for quality education and assurance that every child, including those with disability challenges, will have adequate opportunities to acquire adequate skills to realize their full potential later in life.
He mentioned that the Conference is an important milestone for Africa’s commitment to full inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of life, educationally, economically, and socially, saying their efforts, policies, and collective will must be steadfast in dismantling the barriers that have historically marginalised our fellow citizens.
The Ministry opined that the collective responsibility of governments, academic institutions, the private sector, and civil society to ensure that persons with disabilities are not left behind.
“In the spirit of this year’s theme, let me highlight three critical points that we must focus on to advance the potentials of PWDs in education and economic development.
Building Inclusive Educational Infrastructure
As we work toward the realisation of inclusive education, we must provide the necessary physical and digital infrastructure to support various access and learning needs of all students. Tertiary institutions should not only be admitting students with disabilities but also be taking absolute care with regard to accessibility in their campuses through the addition of necessary ramps, elevators, assistive technologies, and other accommodations that would make learning possible and comfortable for all. Besides that, teaching aids such as braille, interpreters in sign language, and digital materials prepared for various skills should be provided.
Empowering through Economic Inclusion
Let me stress that education is only one side of the coin. People with disabilities must have access to economic opportunities their skils, qualifications, and potential warrants.
For this reason, we have to create opportunities between institutions of education, industries, and governments to develop ways that would take persons with disabilities from education to employment.
These should be part of a wider approach in terms of people with disabilities empowerment, skills development, vocational training, entrepreneurship programs, and inclusive hiring policies so that they can contribute to and benefit from economic development.
Public Policy and Advocacy Shaping
Governments across Africa must play important roles in shaping policies that support inclusiveness at all levels.
“The enactment and implementation of laws to protect the rights of persons with disabilities ensuring they have equal access to education, health, and employment facilities is very essential.
“We must, therefore, support the inclusion of persons with disabilities in decision-making positions both in government and at all levels of society, as they are supposed to represent their experiences and unique challenges which cannot be represented by others in the shaping of policies and practices responsive to their needs.
“As we discuss inclusivity, we must also address financial constraints students with disabilities face through the provision of scholarships, endowments, interest-free loans and grants.
“In line with this, the recent establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund has included provisions for persons with disabilities, this shows how committed we are to tearing down barriers to this inclusive system in education where access is given to all citizens. Also, the Ministry through the Federal Scholarship Board have provisions for grants which can be accessed by all without discrimination. 16. Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me assure you that the Government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will continue to promote inclusivity in the education sector.
“A key reform that is already yielding positive results is the waiver of application fees for the UTME for PWDs during the registration process, as outlined in the Nigerian Education Sector Roadmap launched in 2023.
“I am aware that this policy has significantly increased the number of PWDs who participated in the 2024 UTME.
“It is necessary that I once again commend the leadership of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board under for projecting the true colours of the present administration with emphasis on pro- activeness, transparency, accountability and unalloyed commitment to the advancement of this country through the instrumentality of education.
“I recall the JEOG strategic National Conference on Equal Opportunity of Access to Higher Education in Nigeria held in September 2023, where far- reaching decisions were made, culminating in the decision of the National Council on Education on Persons with Disabilities.
“I am also aware of the Board’s recent Management Retreat Badagry, which has contributed significant input into the implementation of some educational policies of the country” he stressed.
In his address, the Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishag Oloyede called on Nigeria to consider the adoption of Nigerian Sign Language (NSL) as the second national official language.
According to him, this would be a major demonstration of empathy for the large number of fellow compatriots with hearing impairments.
JAMB Registrar called on the National Assembly, the Federal Government, to establish and attach to the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, a centre for supportive services for persons with disabilities, which would be well equipped, with at least one branch in each geo-political zone of the Federation.
The Centre, such as the FGN Supportive Services for the Deaf, located at the University of Ilorin and similar centres established by the Federal Ministry of Education should be reactivated and funded to achieve the lofty goals for which they were established.
He said, the centre, with the assistance of bodies such as JEOG, would be able to attract appropriate technology and policies to make life and study easy for people with special needs.
“To ease the difficulties and encourage access for candidates with special needs we established eleven adapted centres across the country, expanded the special services to, in addition to the hearing impaired who are mainstreamed, candidates with autism, mobility impairment, paralysis, Down syndrome, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, albinism, cerebral palsy and other disfigurements.
“The Board has reduced the registration fee for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination from Five Thousand Naira (N5,000) to Three Thousand Five Hundred Naira (N3,500) for PWDs.
“To further support candidates with disabilities but with 5 O’ level credits in Senior Secondary Certificate, we have, in addition to paying other charges (such as CBT centre fee), provided application documents free of charge.
“For the visually impaired and other candidates with disabilities who require special examination settings, we have also provided transport supplementation, free accommodation and transit for them and their guides during the examination process.
“In defining disability, we are cognisant that impairment can be of (a) cognitive (b) sensory/physical or (c) communicative ability.
“In addition, JAMB believes in the educational principle that Educational Assessment rests squarely on equity, reliability and validity of the assessment and its processes.
“Consequently, inclusivity is non-negotiable in any assessment process that is worth the name of being a test or assessment. Therefrom emerges our motivation and inspiration for the length, breadth and depth of inclusivity in all aspects of our mandates” he ended.
