The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has on Wednesday said it would collaborate with a private institute to set up dedicated UTME centres for visually impaired candidates in Abuja, Lagos and Kano in 2018.

JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede also said the examination body would use eight-keys device to eradicate the challenge of computer illiteracy and phobia for mouse by some candidates.

Prof. Oloyede stated this at the opening of the Strategic Planning Retreat on Monitoring and Supervision of 2017 UTME, held in Kaduna, adding that the board will not revert to the old paper and pencil mode.

He said “from the general feedback on the adoption of the Computer Based Test mode, we have noted the challenge of computer low level literacy of some candidates, especially with the phobia for the mouse. This has been responsible partly for the call by some people for reversal to the Paper and Pencil Test mode.

“In order to ensure equity and level playground for all candidates taking Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, the Board has designed a system that will allow candidates use only eight keys without the use of mouse.  All the candidates need to do is to press the letters A,B,C,D for responses to questions and keys: P, N, S and R representing; previous question, next question, submit and reverse, respectively” he said.

Speaking on the new arrangements for the visually impaired candidates, the JAMB Registrar said, Digital Bridge Institute in partnership with the board has agreed to set up three dedicated centres in Abuja, Lagos and Kano in 2018, adding that, the board will support the centres with necessary inputs.

He however said that, ahead of 2018, when the project of dedicated centres will commence, the board has reached an understanding with the association for the blind persons in Nigeria and blind students in Lagos that, an abridged approach would be used for the 2017 UTME, whereby all prospective blind candidates would be invited to three centres in the country for special assessment in their subjects of choice and relevance to their desired courses and programmes.