JAMB eyes AI to improve UTME access for candidates with disabilities

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is considering the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to further improve access to the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for candidates with disabilities, as part of efforts to deepen inclusive higher education in Nigeria.

Is-haq Oloyede, registrar of JAMB, disclosed this in Abuja at the National Engagement on Inclusive Higher Education and Artificial Intelligence organised by the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG).

Speaking on the role of AI in education, Oloyede described the technology as value-neutral, noting that its impact depends on how it is applied.

“AI is just like the internet or the cell phone. It is value-free. It can be used positively and it can be used negatively. It is only important to use it to serve our purpose while remaining careful of the merits,” he said.

According to him, artificial intelligence offers one of the greatest opportunities for the democratisation of knowledge and could significantly advance inclusive education if deployed responsibly.

“There is no escape from AI. The more we engage with it without losing our natural and native intelligence, the better it will be for us and society. AI cannot replace people except those who fail to know and utilise it for good reason,” Oloyede added.

He urged educational institutions to move beyond discussions on AI by translating the knowledge gained into practical solutions that would improve teaching, learning and access to education.

Also speaking, Peter Okebukola, Chairman of the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group, explained how AI could help address some of the challenges encountered in conducting UTME for candidates with disabilities.

He said one of the recurring problems involves examination questions that contain diagrams, maps and other visual elements that are not accessible to visually impaired candidates.

According to him, AI could be programmed to automatically identify and select equivalent questions that do not rely on diagrams while maintaining the same learning objectives and level of difficulty.

“You can write an AI algorithm that goes into the item bank of Biology and picks out questions without diagrams that assess the same content. In milliseconds, it can generate an appropriate set of questions. The same can be done for other subjects,” Okebukola said.

He noted that JAMB currently adapts its examinations by excluding diagram-based questions where necessary and providing alternative assessment methods for candidates with visual impairments.

Okebukola disclosed that the JEOG has supported 4,213 candidates with disabilities over the past 10 years, comprising persons with visual impairment, albinism, autism and other special needs seeking admission into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

He explained that the candidates sit for the same UTME as other applicants, with accommodations such as Braille question papers, oral reading of questions by subject experts, computers and assistive technologies to ensure fairness.

According to him, about 42 per cent of the candidates supported by the group have secured admission into tertiary institutions over the last decade.

He added that the initiative has expanded from four examination centres at inception to 11 centres nationwide.

Okebukola said Nigeria’s model for conducting UTME for candidates with disabilities has attracted international recognition, describing it as one of the most comprehensive inclusion programmes on the African continent.

He identified inaccurate disability declarations during registration and the limited accessibility of some examination items as major operational challenges but expressed confidence that emerging technologies, particularly AI, would help improve examination delivery for candidates with special needs.

“One challenge is in completing the registration form. Some candidates will say they have visual impairment or they have one form of disability or the other, whereas it was misfilled for them. So by the time you say, wait, no, I can’t come to your center.

“Why should I come? I can’t see. I am visually incapable. So that gives us some challenges.

“And at the end of the day we start begging can we transfer this to here and all that, but that problem is never solved. The other has to do with the test items that these candidates are not amenable to reading,” he said