TheCable

James Lalu, executive secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), has commended the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for its free forms initiative. 

During a visit to JAMB headquarters in Abuja, Lalu also listed some measures the examination body could deploy to improve the verification of candidates with disabilities.

He thanked Is-haq Oloyede, JAMB registrar, for the initiative which would enable candidates with disabilities compete favourably with their peers.

“On behalf of over 35 million persons with disabilities in Nigeria, we are here today to thank you for upholding the rights of persons with disabilities who wish to advance to institutions of higher learning to build desired future for themselves,” Lalu said.

He added that it is compulsory for candidates to get a disability certificate which would be presented to JAMB as a prerequisite for obtaining the forms.

He said the electronic card certificate is embossed with a unique QR code. He added that the free form initiative has encouraged several youths with disabilities to further their education.

“It has equally attracted persons without disabilities to begin to feign disability in order to benefit from the scheme,” Lalu said.

“This also led to the shutdown of 50 percent discount on train tickets made available for Persons with Disabilities after discovering that some persons only lied about their disabilities.”