We paid for UTME varieties regardless of JAMB saying it’s free for the blind

As registration for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Nigeria’s entrance examination into universities, polytechnics and schools of schooling, continues throughout Nigeria, the method has not been precisely clean, particularly for visually-impaired candidates, for whom the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says registration is free.  

 Interviews with affected candidates counsel that implementation at some centres tells a distinct story. Aside from paying for the ‘free’ kind, these candidates complain that there have been a number of technical difficulties throughout their registration. 

Jamb texts ought to have a smooth or braille model – Bidemi 

Location of Registration: Abule Egba, Lagos

Are you able to describe your general registration expertise? Did you attend alone?

I did my registration in Abule Egba, and truthfully, they had been very useful .They assisted me in filling out the shape and each different step. Actually, they even escorted me to the place I boarded a bus dwelling.

Have been there any technical difficulties throughout biometric seize or kind submission?

No, there have been no main points. The one minor problem was that I needed to keep very nonetheless for the machine to seize my picture. They saved reminding me to stay nonetheless. But it surely didn’t take lengthy.

JAMB says registration is free for visually impaired candidates. Have been you charged?

They didn’t give me something at no cost, and I paid. I realized later that it was alleged to be free, however I paid alongside the JAMB payment, which was ₦7,200. 

They need to have knowledgeable me as a result of I requested. The lady on the registration centre instructed me that if there was something, she would get again to me. They need to not have made that mistake. If there was any textual content they had been distributing, I ought to have obtained it since I paid.

Was the prescribed JAMB textual content offered in an accessible format?

The officers didn’t give me something.

In your view, what ought to be improved for visually impaired candidates?

They need to present the textual content in braille or smooth copy in order that we don’t miss out. If JAMB says registration is free, that info ought to be made clear all over the place. We shouldn’t be made to pay. They should create correct consciousness so that each one centres are knowledgeable.

I can’t learn really useful UTME textual content as a result of it’s not in smooth copy – Onah Agness

Location of Registration: Emene, Enugu State

Did you attend the registration centre alone, and the way lengthy did the method take?

I went to the centre with a pal who helped me fill out the shape and full the required steps. I completed the whole lot inside 20 minutes. It was typically clean. The one concern I skilled was a short lived community drawback.

Have been there any issues with biometric capturing?

I had no concern with the capturing. The system was in a position to seize my eyes, and it didn’t take lengthy.

Have been you supplied with the prescribed JAMB textual content in a format you would entry?

They gave me the ebook on the centre, however I can not learn it. It’s not in smooth copy.

What enhancements would you advocate?

It might be good if JAMB might present the fabric in smooth copy or braille.

I felt so helpless –  Knowledge 

Location of Registration: Edo State 

How was your registration expertise? Did you go alone?

My JAMB registration expertise was a bit tense. As a visually impaired individual, I used to be considerably misplaced. I didn’t know the place to go to purchase the PIN, fill out the shape and full different processes. I went there alone as a result of I’m partially sighted.

Did you expertise any points with capturing or filling the shape?

Filling the shape was actually tense as a result of I couldn’t discover anybody who might assist me fill it. They didn’t even care. Perhaps it was as a result of I’m partially sighted. They had been simply ordering me round as if I had been a sighted individual. It was a person I met exterior who helped me fill the shape. He and his spouse helped me and my pal, whom I went with. She is completely blind, so I used to be the one working round for each of us.

Did you complain?

I didn’t complain as a result of I’m the one in search of alternative and assist. So I needed to obey as they instructed me to.

Have been you given the prescribed UTME textual content in an accessible format?

JAMB solely offered The Lekki Headmaster in onerous copy. I had to go surfing to search for the PDF. 

 What ought to JAMB enhance for visually impaired candidates?

I believe JAMB ought to practice their employees to deal with individuals with care. They had been shouting as if I had been an armed robber. The one one who handled me properly was the girl promoting the JAMB PIN. It felt like she understood tips on how to work with individuals with disabilities. JAMB ought to make some employees out there to help us. There are individuals who will not be even visually impaired however nonetheless require help in filling the shape. So these sorts of individuals want employees to assist them.

After I requested for a smooth copy of UTME textual content, JAMB officers instructed me to ask the creator – Mayowa Mohammed

Location of Registration: Oshodi, Lagos

How was your registration expertise? 

After I went to register, the officers attended to us on time. We got preferential remedy. Although it went effectively, there was a point of stigmatisation. The officers mentioned some issues that had been probably not good. 

Did you expertise any points with capturing or filling the shape?

There have been no points with capturing.

Have been you given the prescribed JAMB textual content in an accessible format?

There should be a smooth copy of the textual content, however there are solely onerous copies. Once we requested for the smooth copy, they sarcastically instructed us to go and ask the creator.

What ought to JAMB enhance for visually impaired candidates?

They need to have offered the textual content in braille or smooth copy.

Course of was clean – Afolabi Emmanuel

Location of Registration: Oshodi, Lagos

When did you register for UTME? 

I registered for UTME two weeks in the past. I went there on a Friday, and the registration didn’t take lengthy.

Did you expertise any technical points with capturing?

The capturing went okay. It didn’t take lengthy, and the machine didn’t reject my face as I learnt it used to.

Have been you given the prescribed JAMB textual content in an accessible format?

I used to be given the onerous copy, however I’ve the PDF. I bought it from somebody.

What ought to JAMB do otherwise for visually impaired candidates?

If there’s a braille or smooth copy of really useful texts, it is going to be good. I’m saying this as a result of we’re utilizing PDFs to learn, and due to the time it takes to learn one novel, we would not end all of the books. Aside from that, it’s not each time that we’ve electrical energy right here. Which implies any time there is no such thing as a gentle, we’d not be capable of learn.

Officers puzzled why a blind lady needed to write down UTME  – Moridiat Daramola

Location of Registration: Oshodi, Lagos

How would you charge your expertise on the UTME registration centre?

Once we went to register, it was fairly tense. The officers registering candidates made remarks that weren’t applicable. Certainly one of them mentioned one thing like, “These blind persons are right here; their wahala (drawback) is an excessive amount of.”

The place did the discrimination happen?

The discrimination occurred throughout the registration itself. It occurred within the room the place we had been meant to thumbprint. They didn’t realise that I can see partially, so I began questioning them about what they meant. I requested whether or not they thought we had been troublesome. I instructed them that the issues they’ll do, we will additionally do; it’s simply that our course of could take extra time or be completely different. As a result of I can see partially, I used to be in a position to alert the opposite blind individuals there in regards to the employees’s physique language. They had been performing as if they didn’t need us to return shut.

What did you do as this occurred?

We determined to talk up and ask them why they had been behaving that method and whether or not it was as a result of we’re blind. Certainly one of them then requested whether or not we might return to high school and what we supposed to do there. We responded that we will learn and write in braille and function the system they had been utilizing. After that, the person saved quiet. We made it clear that there’s means in incapacity.

Aside from this, was the whole lot else passable?

Sure, the registration course of itself was nice. There are completely different rooms on the centre. Within the room the place they had been conducting the primary registration, the person requested me to learn out what I had written. I instructed him that I couldn’t see, so he collected it from me and entered the data into the system himself. He requested me the questions on the shape, which helped as a result of I used to be in a position to right some particulars that weren’t written correctly.

Have been you supplied with the prescribed JAMB textual content in an accessible format?

Once we requested in regards to the JAMB textual content and whether or not they might give it to us as a PDF, they instructed us to go to Abuja and meet the suitable authorities. We responded that since they had been accumulating cash from blind candidates, they need to be capable of present a way for them to learn the textual content. They need to have offered a PDF in order that it may very well be accessed as a smooth copy.

What ought to JAMB enhance for visually impaired candidates subsequent 12 months?

JAMB ought to present the textual content in an accessible format in order that blind individuals can learn it.