Recently, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), through its chief executive officer, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, gave an examination time concession of two hours to albinos, classifying them as visually impaired. Taiwo Olanrewaju and Ruth Olurounbi write on the desirability or otherwise of the concession.EDUCATION means many things to many people. To some, it is the basis for national and individual development. That is why Derek Bok, an American educator and lawyer, and president, Harvard University from 1971 to 1990 said; 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance'. To Wikipedia, the online dictionary, education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts. In its narrow, technical sense, education is the formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another, e.g., instruction in schools.However, to many scholars, the importance of education cannot be overemphasised. That is why Ropo Oguntimehin defined it as 'a companion which no future can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate it and no nepotism can enslave.' Another erudite scholar, G.K. Chesterson, said 'Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.'To Mr Robin Cook, 'Education is more than a luxury; it is a responsibility that society owes to itself' while Benjamin Disraeli said, 'Upon the education of the people of this country, the fate of this country depends.' In order to further develop the nation by allowing more people access to higher education, the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor 'Dibu Ojerinde, said the board would henceforth classify albinos as virtually impaired persons, and thus, approved an additional time of two hours for albinos in the conduct of its future Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTMEs. A statement by the JAMB Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Timothy Oyedeji, in Abuja, upper Sunday, added that Professor Ojerinde said that while briefing officials of the board on the preparation for the 2012 UTME held on Saturday, 24 March.Ojerinde said the decision was informed by the peculiar sight problem associated with albinism, saying, 'For us in JAMB, we are trailing the blaze by incorporating the eye problem of the group into our examination planning.'He further said that JAMB was determined to provide level-playing field for all albinos desirous of tertiary education by also providing them with magnifying lenses to help them to see clearly during the examinations.While calling on other examination bodies in Nigeria and on the continent to do same, the JAMB registrar added that most Nigerians were ignorant of the peculiar problems, especially sight challenges associated with albinism.What is albinism'The Oxford Medical Dictionary describes albinism as 'an inherited condition present at birth, characterised by a lack of pigment that normally gives colour to the skin, hair, and eyes. Many types of albinism exist, all of which involve lack of pigment in varying degrees. The condition, which is found in all races, may be accompanied by eye problems and may lead to skin cancer later in life. They may be very far-sighted or near-sighted, and may have other defects in the curvature of the lens of the eye (astigmatism) that cause images to appear unfocused.' Speaking on the eye sights albinos contend with, Dr Femi Fagunwa, an ophthalmologist with the Eyesight Medical Centre, Lagos, said in a telephone interview with the Nigerian Tribune that several albinos do have a constant, involuntary movement of the eyeball called nystagmus, a condition which may result in reduced or limited vision for the sufferers.Dr Fagunwa said that albinos may also have problems with eye coordination which may make them appear as if they are cross-eyed, a situation which is known as underdevelopment of optic nerve. 'But they are in actual fact not cross-eyed, they just lack coordination with their eyes and often times, we have seen this condition cause them problems with depth perception, especially at close distances because of decrease in acuity of one or both eyes due to poor transmission to the brain,' he said.Albinos are photophobic in nature, another practising ophthalmologist in Abuja, Dr Hamed Hassan told the Nigerian Tribune. He explained that albinos are very sensitive to light because their irises allow "stray" light to enter their eyes. He therefore, debunked a common misconception that people with albinism shouldn't go out on sunny days, saying that they could go out quite comfortably with sunglasses on their faces. Scientists say that albinism is a congenital disorder characterised by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin. They added that albinism results from inheritance of recessive gene alleles and is known to affect all vertebrates, including humans. While an organism with complete absence of melanin is called an albino, an organism with only a diminished amount of melanin is described as albinoid.In addition to the characteristically light skin and eye problems, people with a rare form of albinism called Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome (HPS) also have a greater tendency to have bleeding disorders, inflammation of the large bowel (colitis), lung (pulmonary) disease, and kidney (renal) problems, an online medical encyclopaedia added.Albinism also occurs in various types of animals.People's views:In a telephone chat with an albino, Mr Kola Olomide, a civil servant, he said it was the JAMB registrar who could explain why he decided to give concessions to albinos during the jamb exam, adding that albinism is all about being short- sighted.'What's the big deal there' Years back, I did my JAMB without any aid. I completed my papers on record time, nobody gave me any magnifying glass or extended my exam time.'Speaking in the same vein, an albino met on Challenge/ Anfaani road in Ibadan, who simply called himself Ayo, a student, appreciated the JAMB boss' gesture, thanked him for the intended provision of magnifying glasses for albinos, 'but the extension of time is not necessary,' he added. In a chat with the Nigerian Tribune on behalf of the blind, that is the visually impaired, Mr Abioye Kayode Moses, principal, Omoyeni Special School, Aperin-Oniyere, Ibadan said, for the blind, it was a welcome development as the blind needed the extra hours.'The blind employ the services of readers, who read out the questions to them before they answer it on their braille,' Abioye explained.Mr Haruna Ibrahim said if all the examination bodies decide to treat albinos as special candidates and give them concessions, would the authorities of the higher institutions they attend do the same, he asked.'Will the universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education and other tertiary institutions follow suit' Haruna asked.The Albino's Foundation's helmsman, Jake Epelle, was excited about JAMB's far-reaching innovations, most especially its decision to officially categorise and treat albinos as visually impaired.He opined that the act would surely translate to seeing more albinos registering and passing future UTMEs.Will other examination bodies follow suit' The registrar, West African Examination Council (WAEC), Alhaja Mulikat Bello told the Tribune that WAEC categorises the blind, deaf and dumb and albino as special candidates. What WAEC, however, does is to set the examination questions for the blind and the deaf and dumb on the braille and the examination period is not extended for them.For albinos, WAEC increases the font size of their questions so that the questions would be more legible. Magnifying glasses are not provided for them and neither is the examination time extended for them, she explained.At the National Examination Council (NECO) in Minna, the registrar, Professor Promise Okpala, was not available but an insider source, who refused to disclose his identity said NECO only gives extra few minutes to the blind to tidy up their papers after the examination. 'Nobody else is given any other concession,' he volunteered. Additional reports by Clement Idoko, Abuja; Kunle Awosiyan, Lagos and Adelowo Oladipo, Minna.
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