- Pathetic stories of visually-impaired applicants denied admission by UNILAG because of Maths
- We’ve always been fair to physically challenged applicants –UNILAG
- Controversy over ability of visually-impaired to pass Maths
Of all the subjects that are taught from primary level to tertiary institution, Mathematics is obviously the most dreaded by students. This obviously accounts for the poor performance of candidates in the subject, especially in results released by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) over the years. If this is the situation with candidates who have no problem with the sight, what would be the fate of the visually impaired candidates? INNOCENT DURU in this report digs into the challenges of the visually impaired students in studying Mathematics and the allegation of some of them that they were denied admission by the University of Lagos (UNILAG) for not having credit pass in the subject.
Olawoyin Damilola David, a visually impaired young man, is very sad. He is sad not because he has challenges with his sight but because his ambition of acquiring university education is currently about being dashed. Before he attempted and scored 220 in the recently released Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination, he had attempted the examination twice without success. In his first attempt, he scored below 200 and the second time he tried, the result was not released because “ I registered twice- in Delta State and Lagos State. I registered in Delta but I had nobody to stay with over there, I came back to Lagos State to buy another form. When they announced that the results had been released, I checked but mine wasn’t there. That was why my poor mother, a widow for that matter, went everywhere she could to borrow money to buy another form for me because she doesn’t want me to be a liability in the society.
“After I succeeded in passing JAMB the third time, I was wrapped in excitement, jumped as high as I could and punched the air repeatedly in exhilaration because I thought I had surmounted the hurdle that stood between me and my dream of having university education. I applied to study Mass Communication in UNILAG and was already having a mental picture of myself broadcasting in the studio.”
When the list of admitted applicants was released by the institution, Damilola confidently strolled to the school with the aim of seeing his name on the admission list but what he saw jolted him. His name was conspicuously missing and his sweet dream and ambition put on the line.
He was, however, not alone as a number of his colleagues had a similar problem.
“When we tried to know why we were not given admission, they told us that we didn’t meet their requirement of having credit pass in Mathematics. The reason was strange to us because visually impaired students don’t write Mathematics in WAEC examination. When I sat for WAEC IN 2012 in Ogun State, the officials specifically asked us (visually impaired) candidates not to write Mathematics. They said the results would not be released if we should do it.
“ Actually, it is difficult if not impossible for a visually impaired person to have credit pass in the subject. It is questionable if any does because even for sighted students, Mathematics is a nightmare. It is visually impaired candidates that are assisted that can come out with credit pass in the subject.
“As I am talking to you right now, my frustration level is in the danger of reading zero. As visually impaired persons trying go to higher institution, we are only trying to be relevant in the society and should be encouraged by the institution instead of all the discouragement we are getting. My pain is aggravated by the mood of my wretched mother. She was very happy when I passed JAMB hoping that her efforts had paid off. She has been very sick since I told her that I was not admitted by the school. ”
Samuel Dabiri Oluwaseun, 23, is another visually impaired applicant that was allegedly denied admission by the institution for not having credit pass in Mathematics.
Unlike Damilola, who has a poor widow running around for his well being, Dabiri has nobody to ask for help. He told The Nation that his parents had separated and that he lives at the mercy of kind- hearted Nigerians. “Everything about me is sponsored, including the shoes I am wearing.”
Like Damilola, he had unsuccessfully attempted JAMB on two occasions, scoring 151 and 181 respectively. In his avowed commitment to achieve his dream of going to the university, he got help to obtain the form the third time and fortunately for him, he passed, scoring 226.
With tears running down his eyes, Dabiri said: “After achieving my dream of passing JAMB, I became optimistic that my ambition of studying Sociology in UNILAG was certain. My joy was further boosted when somebody volunteered to foot my bills in the university. My file has been treated and only waiting for my admission letter as a confirmation that the institution actually admitted me. Now, that help is almost slipping off my hand. One thing with people like us is that helpers don’t often come. When they come and you don’t make good use of it immediately, they may not be available again tomorrow.
“I am shocked that the institution could for any reasons discriminate against people like us. We learnt that they admitted about 5,000 sighted candidates and admitted six out of the 27 visually impaired that applied to the institution. We even heard that some sighted applicants who scored below what we scored were admitted by the institution. Why on earth would they do that? This is injustice and there is an urgent need by the government to intervene in this matter. If every institution should be meting out the same treatment to people like us, what would be our fate? Do they want us to take to the street and start begging for alms?’’
Dabiri’s colleague, Kalu Joseph scored 218 in his JAMB examination and looked forward to studying Christian Religious Studies (CRS) education in UNILAG but was not admitted because he doesn’t have credit pass in Mathematics.
“It was shocking to learn that I was denied admission because I don’t have credit pass in Mathematics. I think it is just an afterthought, and a deliberate attempt to scheme us out. The subject is not easy for the visually impaired to learn. The facilities are not there. We are aware that they have been waiving it for our colleagues over the years because they know it is a herculean task for people like us to pass it. They have brought untold sorrow to my life and aggravated my unpleasant condition as a virtually impaired person,” he said.
Lukman Olalekan and Abiodun Lateef Alabi, from Osun and Oyo states respectively, also lamented their plight.
Lukman said: “As a visually impaired person, I have always not supported the idea of begging for alms. This is why I am giving my all to acquire university education. Unfortunately, UNILAG is out to jeopardize my ambition and that of my colleagues. I scored 211 in JAMB and that is no mean feat for somebody without sight. My colleagues and I who scored above 200 in JAMB deserve some commendation and no condemnation because many sighted candidates didn’t score as much as that. This alone is enough for the institution to admit us without stress. If I am eventually denied the admission and not allowed to achieve my ambition, I would be forced to take to begging to survive. Right now, going to school remains my only hope of having gainful employment and not having to be a liability on anybody.”
Lateef also expressed disappointment over the development, saying: “It is unbelievable that the institution would add another form of darkness to our condition. The government should look into this and make sure we are not denied the opportunity of achieving our ambition in life.”
Applicants with Mathematics also allege they were not admitted
While the visually impaired applicants that were allegedly denied admission for not having credit pass in Mathematics are yet to come to terms with the fate that has befallen them, it was shocking to also find that those who had credit pass in the subject were also allegedly not given admission by the institution.
The victims told our correspondent that the institution authorities said they were not admitted because their subject combination in JAMB was not correct.
24 year-old Awiri Christian said he has credit pass in Mathematics and scored 223 in JAMB but was shocked that he was not admitted.
“It came to me as a serious shock because I met all the requirements. Their claim that my subject combination was wrong was frivolous. I wrote English Language, Government, Literature and CRS in JAMB. I didn’t just choose those subjects because I could pass them. I carefully studied the brochure before I selected those subjects when I was filling my JAMB form. I scored 223 in JAMB. I wanted to study Political Science and I am sure that those combinations are apt for the course. Besides, we don’t just do anything without consulting with the leadership of our association, especially those in the various institutions we are applying for admission. In fact, our colleagues who are studying the same course in the institution presently used the same subject combination to gain admission into the school.”
Like others, Christian had sat for JAMB on two occasions without making success out of them.
“ My frustration is that this is the first time I have passed JAMB in the last three years. In my first attempt, my results were not fully released making me to score below 200. They released three out of four subjects and after waiting to see if they would release the last one, they eventually removed the previously released result and wrote ‘absent’ there.
“If I didn’t give up at that point and through dint of hard work and God’s favour I succeeded in my third attempt, why would the institution deny me admission for no genuine reasons? If I end up not being admitted with my score in JAMB, it means I would go back to square one. I would have to go back to writing JAMB all over and now that my morale is abysmally low, how would I concentrate and pass? If I pass again, how am I sure I would get admission? The treatment is unfair,” he stated in emotion laden voice.
Mustafa Yusuf Olagoke also has credit pass in Mathematics but allegedly not also admitted by the institution.
“I have credit pass in Mathematics and also scored 230 in JAMB. With the results, I was convinced that I would get admission into the school to study Political Science All the excuses that some people don’t have credit pass in Mathematics and that some of us did the wrong subject combinations are cooked up. This was not the practice in the institution over the years that we have been following the admission process.
“I have broken every barrier in my determination to acquire higher education but the UNILAG authorities have placed artificial barrier on my path. It is unfortunate. I did the right subject combinations. Our association in the institution even called to discuss the appropriate subject combinations with us before we filled the forms.
“Before now, the immediate past admission officer, late Mrs Adare, would make sure that every visually impaired applicant that scored above 200 was given admission. What she was always doing was to invite the candidates to verify their results and confirm that they are actually visually impaired. Once she did that, the applicants would be taken.”
Narrating the effect of the development on him, Mustafa said: “ I have been feeling terribly bad since I got this information. I am a music lover and supposed to be playing my musical instruments before I was asked to come and talk to you but I was in my room crying and wondering what would become of my life if I eventually don’t get this admission. My parents are equally traumatized because their joy of living to see me acquire university education is under serious threat.
“Christian and I went to secondary school using the scholarship provided for us by people who appreciated our love for music. After we finished secondary school, we had nowhere to go again. Fortunately for us, mummy (the proprietress of Bethesda Home for the Blind) picked us up and has been taking care of us since them.”
In a chat with The Nation, the proprietress of the vocational centre, Mrs Chioma Ohakwe, said: “ Denying the applicants admission by the university is a painful. It is difficult for the visually impaired to write Mathematics. Nigeria does not have the technology that can enable them to learn and perform well in Mathematics. Before now, visually impaired persons could not operate computer but with the development of a software called Job Access With Speech (JAWS), they can now do that. The software reads out everything on the computer for them.
“For the past three years, they have been admitting our students, they always waived Mathematics for them because they know what it entails. Eight of our students that applied to University of Nigeria, Nsukka and three others that applied to Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) have been admitted. They saw their conditions and showed compassion to them by waiving Mathematics.
‘’The issue of subject combinations is also out of it. The management of the institution should do something about this because most of these children are orphans. They depend on kind-hearted people to sponsor them. If the opportunity is lost, they may have to wait for a very long time before they would get another.’’
Why many visually impaired shun Mathematics
Findings revealed that most visually impaired students who attend public schools across the country don’t get good attention from Mathematics teachers. State-owned schools are said to be highly culpable in this regard as they lack the basic facilities and resource persons needed to impact knowledge of Mathematics into the students.
Reliving his experience with Mathematics in public school, Dabiri said: “I didn’t do Mathematics in my Senior Secondary School Examination (SSCE) because all through the years I spent in school, the Mathematics teachers saw us as a surplus to the class. They would come to the class, go straight to the board and start writing. After writing, they would ask the class to look up and briefly explain what they must have written.
“Thereafter, they would ask if we understood. The sighted ones would say yes sir, while we would keep quiet. When I saw that it was beyond me to go along with the subject, I decided to focus my attention on other subjects. Most public schools don’t have any facility and human resources to help visually impaired to learn Mathematics. For good part of my days in the secondary school, we didn’t have Mathematics teachers.”
Kalu on his part said: “I didn’t bother to sit for Mathematics examination when I did my SSCE because I didn’t do it in secondary school. I had my secondary school in a public school in Abia State and I must say that the attitude of the Mathematics teachers were not helpful. I was only listening to what they were teaching without understanding what was being taught. Mathematics is a practical subject and there was no way I could have understood it by just listening to the teacher teach me the subject like somebody telling a story.’’
Mustafa told our correspondent that he wouldn’t have made credit pass in mathematics if he did not leave a state-owned school for a federal government one. He said: “ I went to a public school for my junior secondary education. There, the Mathematics teachers never bothered about us -the visually impaired. They were teaching the class as if we were all sighted. This made me to leave the school for a federal government secondary school. In the federal government schools, the Mathematics teachers gave good attention to the visually impaired. They have provided us with Braille, Maths frame board and other basic tools that aided our learning.
“The challenge we had to deal with was with construction. It is impossible for a visually impaired person to do construction. We always leave out construction questions in WAEC examinations. All we do is to indicate that we are visually impaired.
Controversy over ability of visually impaired to get credit pass in examination
Controversy has, however, trailed the ability of the visually impaired to pass Mathematics at credit level.
An educationist, who simply identified himself as Dr Ben, said it is practically impossible for them to pass Mathematics. He insisted that any visually impaired person that passes the subject must have been assisted to do so.
“Let us face the reality, it is impossible for visually impaired persons to get credit pass in Mathematics. Where is the basic tool they need to attempt the examination? These people respond to things they could hear or touch. To start with, they need a talking scientific calculator to solve a number of the questions. This is not anywhere around their reach. They have no tool to draw and identify shapes. So tell me how they end up passing.
“We, as a country do not yet have what it takes to impact Mathematical knowledge to the bind. The teachers do not also have the capacity to teach these children effectively. They are only trying but their efforts in all honesty is not enough. The implication here is that when such students who claimed to have passed Mathematics get to higher institution, they would not be exempted from taking courses related to the subject because they have proven that they know it. this can lead to rustication.”
Mr Olufemi, a visually impaired ICT expert, also shared Dr Ben’s line of thought. He said: “ Visually impaired cannot pass Mathematics because we lack the equipment and human resources to do that. It is only when all these are put in place that visually impaired persons can attempt to do well in Mathematics. I even had a friend who because he came from a rich home had all the necessary tools but when he sat for WAEC, the best he could get was ordinary pass. Visually impaired persons who score credit pass in the subject must have been assisted.”
Abiodun, a Mathematics teacher in one of the federal government secondary schools in Lagos State, however, says it is not impossible for visually impaired to pass Mathematics at credit level.
“It is not impossible. The only challenge here in our school is that the visually impaired have been merged with the sighted. This makes it difficult if not impossible to give the necessary attention to the visually impaired. In the past, we had special classes for visually impaired and had all the time in this world to come to their level. One could sit beside them and explain things one after the other. When you teach, they would be using their Braille to write.
“When they want to write the answers for you to mark, they would type everything out in words. They have no ability to work out the calculations. They only can use their computer to type everything out in words. Their challenge is in the area of drawing tables and curves. This is pretty difficult for now.’’
Reacting to the controversy, Mrs Jean Obi, the leader of Nigerwives and former test developer for WAEC, said it is difficult for visually impaired to pass Mathematics but not impossible.
“ The problem is mainly in the area of drawing diagrams and calculations. Fortunately we have produced a drawing board called tactile. It makes it possible for a teacher to draw a diagram and make the visually impaired students feel what it looks like. When this is done, they would have a mental picture of what such a diagram looks like and can draw it later on their own. We have sent about 50 of these boards to our organization in Abuja.
“In the area of calculation, the problem is that they would need talking scientific calculators. This is very expensive. We are still looking at how we can get them cheaper for students in the country. you can scribble and do calculations for sighted students but you can’t do that for the visually impaired.”
Sharing her experience from an international workshop she attended in Campala, Mrs Obi said: “ During the workshop, we the participants exchanged ideas about the challenges involved in teaching Mathematics to the visually impaired. Participants from Kenya made us to understand that visually impaired students were used to not taking Mathematics lessons. But in the last four to five years, their government said every student in the country must be given equal opportunity in the area of education. They provided the necessary tools and an enabling environment and made it compulsory for every visually impaired student o take the subject. We can also do the same here in Nigeria with the support of the government, the teachers, students and other stakeholders.
“The workshops we have also done across the country show that a good number of the teachers are not competent to teach these children. You can’t teach what you don’t have. Another challenge is that the number of students in most classes are too large. There are about 60 to 70 in some classes. This makes it impossible for a teacher to teach effectively. I must give kudos to the Lagos State government for their efforts in giving quality education to the visually impaired. They really stand out. we would want other states to emulate them.
UNILAG reacts
The authorities of UNILAG have, however, denied the allegations levelled against them by the applicants.
The Deputy Registrar Information, Mr Oke Olagoke, said: “ We admit based on the vacancies we have. At present, we have 32, 00 applicants out of which only 4, 800 would be admitted. We always admit everybody that meets our requirements and those of JAMB. Besides, we have a policy to always encourage physically challenged that meet our requirements. We give specific assistance to them in the areas of accommodation and Braille writing.”
On the allegation of scheming out the candidates on the ground of wrong subject combinations, he said: “ Whatever we are doing is in consonance with JAMB brochure. A candidate needs to study the brochure very well and not assume that what university A accepts would be accepted by B. I will advise that such candidates bring their documents for us to verify their claims.”
Private school owners versus WAEC
In another development, some private school operators have accused WAEC of not always bringing examination papers for visually impaired during public examinations. This lends credence to Damilola’s claim that he and his colleagues were not allowed to sit for Mathematics by the officials when he sat for SSCE, although he said that he wrote the examination in a public school.
“WAEC doesn’t bring question papers for visually impaired students that write exams in our school. Anyday the students are to write Mathematics in WAEC exams, visually impaired students don’t come because there is a precedent by the examination body that it is not meant for them. For us, it is quite understandable because of their condition,” Mrs Abu, a school proprietor, said.
Reacting to the allegation, Mr Demianus Ojijeogu, the Public Affairs Officer of WAEC, said: “ It is not true that we don’t supply materials for visually impaired candidates to write Mathematics in our exams. We have a special unit that caters for all the needs of disable candidates. Over the years, we observed that blind candidates don’t offer Mathematics and they don’t do science practicals in the WASSCE. This was out of their own choice and not because provisions were not made for them by us.
”But this year, a total of 199 visually impaired candidates sat for Mathematics and a certain percentage scored credit pass. We make Braille available for them and during exams, if sighted candidates are given one hour, they would be given extra 30 minutes or more. We also make provisions for albinos too. We have factored all this into our preparations for the exams. We don’t leave anything to chance. We treat them specially.’’
