JAMB Deepens Inclusive Education Agenda, Deploys AI to Expand Access By Beauty Akporido Aroh
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to expand access to higher education for students with disabilities has taken centre stage as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) intensified efforts to make Nigeria’s tertiary education system more inclusive.
The initiative was highlighted during the National Stakeholders’ Engagement on Inclusivity and Higher Education, where education experts, policymakers and disability advocates reviewed a decade of progress under JAMB’s Equal Opportunity Group while charting a new course driven by artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the event, former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Professor Peter Okebukola, said the gathering marked the 10th anniversary of the Equal Opportunity Group established by JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, to remove barriers preventing persons with disabilities from accessing higher education.
According to him, the next phase of the initiative will focus on harnessing artificial intelligence to improve inclusion, enhance learning support and increase efficiency in providing equal educational opportunities for students living with disabilities.
Okebukola noted that the decade-long intervention has produced remarkable results, revealing that 4,216 candidates with different forms of disabilities—including visual impairment, autism, Down syndrome and albinism—have benefitted from the programme over the last ten years.
He disclosed that, on average, about 53 per cent of the candidates secure admission annually into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.
Rejecting suggestions that admission standards are lowered for such candidates, Okebukola stressed that they sit for the same examinations and answer the same questions as every other candidate.
“They are exceptionally brilliant. Many of them excel in competitive courses, including law, proving that disability is not inability,” he said.
The education scholar also unveiled a comprehensive manual developed to guide parents, lecturers, administrators and other stakeholders on supporting underage students admitted into tertiary institutions.
He explained that the manual was commissioned by JAMB following concerns that academically gifted students below the age of 16 often face emotional, psychological and social challenges after gaining admission.
The document, he said, draws from contributions by 468 education experts as well as experiences shared by underage students already studying in Nigerian universities.
As part of activities marking the anniversary, the Committee of Friends of Professor Oloyede also announced plans to publish a book titled A Peep into the Future of Higher Education in Nigeria, featuring scholarly contributions examining the future direction of the nation’s tertiary education system.
The engagement comes amid broader reforms initiated by Oloyede, whose tenure as JAMB Registrar has been marked by expanded access to higher education, improved examination integrity, enhanced welfare for staff and sustained advocacy for educational inclusion.
Stakeholders at the forum described the adoption of artificial intelligence as a timely intervention capable of transforming learning support, improving accessibility and ensuring that no qualified Nigerian is denied higher education on account of disability.
