Chidimma Uchegbu
The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, has called for the establishment of a centre for supportive services for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Oloyede made this known in Abuja on Tuesday at the first Africa Regional Conference on Equal Opportunity of Access to Higher Education (ARCEAHED).
He said the centre should be well equipped, with at least one branch in each geo-political zone of the federation and attached to the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD).
Oloyede said that if established, the centre, with the assistance of bodies such as Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s Equal opportunity Group (JEOG), would be able to attract appropriate technology and policies.
According to him, this will make life and study easy for people with special needs.
“The inaugural ARCEAHED presents a significant opportunity for JAMB and various stakeholders within the education sector to gather vital insights on advancing inclusive education.
“Education remains the cornerstone of self- actualisation, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that every individual, regardless of his/her ability, has access to higher education.
“For this reason, JAMB is dedicated to fostering fora that facilitate discussions on innovative strategies to enhance educational opportunities for all citizens, particularly those with disabilities,” he said.
The registrar urged stakeholders to collaborate on actionable steps to improve the educational landscape for persons with disabilities.
Also, the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, emphasised the need to remove the barriers of PWDs and as well create the right conditions for them.
Sununu called for collective responsibility of governments, academic institutions, the private sector, and civil society to ensure that PWDs were not left behind.
According to him, 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.
“Besides that, teaching aids such as braille, interpreters in sign language, and digital materials prepared for various skills should be provided,” he said.
The minister urged all tertiary institutions to offer admissions to all candidates with disabilities who possessed minimum admissible scores into the programmes of their choice after writing UTME.
“This initiative, together with the ambitious target to enroll 825,000 students with disabilities cumulatively over the next five years, demonstrates our unwavering commitment to realising equal access to education,” he added.
