TAF Africa applauds the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) for its commendable initiative in providing Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) the opportunity to register for the 2024/2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination at no cost.
JAMB's commitment to ensuring equal educational opportunities for all, irrespective of physical abilities, is a noteworthy step towards fostering a more inclusive society. The decision to waive registration fees for persons with disabilities not only promotes accessibility but also acknowledges the importance of empowering individuals with diverse abilities to pursue higher education.
As an organization dedicated to fostering inclusive education practices, TAF Africa recognizes the significance of JAMB's efforts in creating an environment where every student, regardless of physical challenges, can aspire to and achieve their educational goals. We believe that inclusive education is not only a matter of policy but a catalyst for building a more equitable and harmonious society.
We have long championed the cause of inclusive education, striving to eliminate barriers that hinder the full participation of PWDs in educational institutions. Through our various interventions and advocacy programs, we have worked towards creating awareness, providing support, and influencing policies that promote inclusive learning environments.
We commend JAMB for aligning with the principles of inclusive education and taking concrete steps to make higher education accessible to everyone. This initiative not only serves as a testament to the commitment of JAMB but also sets a positive example for other educational institutions to follow suit.
TAF Africa remains committed to collaborating with stakeholders, including government bodies, educational institutions, and the community at large, to continue our mission of fostering inclusivity in education. We encourage other organizations and institutions to join hands in creating a society where diversity is celebrated, and everyone can reach their full potential.
SIGNED:
Amb. Jake Epelle
CEO/Founder, TAF Africa
Convener, Disability Inclusion Nigeria
A Journey Of Rights and Disability Inclusion
A Journey Of Rights and Disability Inclusion Since the end of the Second World War, the global community has been undergoing a period of profound societal change. Civil Rights movements have shaken the foundations of the global order, standing at the heart of social transformation and progressive change for the better part of the last two centuries.This story can be traced, in various ways, to pivotal moments across our historical past. No area of human civilisation has been immune to debates and movements about the rights of individuals and the responsibility of the state, or supreme power, to the citizens who are governed by it.Across age, class, sex, faith, sexuality, and disability, individuals have advocated and fought for the gradual reshaping of their societies into the world we live in today – one aspiring toward a concrete vision of individual liberty, equality before the law, incorruptible justice, and shared prosperity. Yet, the journey has not always been smooth. We may view the past in entirely barbaric terms, and in many ways, we would be right. Still, history shows us that resistance to oppression has always existed. For the simple yet radical idea of human equality, battles were fought, won and lost; wars were waged, and countless lives were sacrificed.As far back as 1100 BCE, records from ancient Egypt suggest the occurrence of organised workers’ strikes. In 287 BCE, in ancient Rome, the dictator (no relation to modern-day dictators, please) Quintus Hortensius, passed the Lex Hortensia, a law which theoretically secured political equality between the ruling Patrician class and the free Plebeian citizens by making all resolutions from the Plebeian Council binding on all Roman citizens. Centuries earlier, Persia, under the infamous Cyrus the Great, issued the Cyrus Cylinder, a declaration often regarded as one of the earliest endorsements of religious freedom. Progress, however, has rarely been swift. It was not until the 1960s – during the height of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement – that disability inclusion began to emerge as a distinct movement with its own pure identity, advocating for a community whose experiences cut across age, class, gender, and culture. Prior to this, early steps toward social protection existed in the US, most notably the Social Security Act of the 1930s, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the first U.S. president with a physical disability.Between the 60s and the 90s, Civil Rights took multiple leaps forward around the globe. Across Africa, people reclaimed self-governance after a century of colonial rule. These transformations were marked by deep struggle, highlighted by the deeply divisive racial conflict in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. In Nigeria and throughout the continent, citizens grappled with the profound responsibilities and challenges of independence, democratic self-determination, and governance.Alongside these transformations, other social changes gained momentum worldwide. As gender (sex) rights, religious liberty, and freedom of expression raced forward, the world made enormous progress in the integration of persons with disabilities (PWDs). By the late 90s, the US, Canada, India, and the UK had enacted laws prohibiting discrimination based on disability.The newly formed United Nations played a central role in shaping global disability advocacy with the 1975 UN Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons. This milestone set the stage for later international frameworks, most notably the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007, which emphasised not only fundamental rights like the right to accessibility and the right to life, but also focused on the socio-economic foundations that make political rights meaningful.Today, over 100 countries on Earth have enacted and implemented some form of legislation on disability inclusion. Still, the journey continues.Nationwide implementation of accessibility standards, increased participation of persons with disabilities in the workforce, politics, policymaking, and governance, inclusive education systems where children with disabilities and without disabilities learn together safely, and a societal culture that embraces rather than marginalises disability – these, and many others, are the markers of progress that remain ahead of us.On this journey toward true disability inclusion, we at TAF Africa, our donors and partners, and team, are committed to walking every step of the way.