UOG’s blind students sit exams in a Pacific first

BY JASON DOM
EIGHT blind students at the University of Goroka disability inclusion resource centre sat for their examinations recently.
This was made possible through the leadership of Dr James Aiwa, executive dean of the school of education, who established and incorporated the centre with the university.
“The centre has few computers with non-visual desktop access (NVDA) software,” he said.
“The software uses objects to represent elements in an application such as menu bars, status bar and various foreground windows.
“That supports students with visual impairments to do their assignments, projects and exams.
“Maximum learning support was given to these students for their success.
“Lecturers at UOG were made aware of the students’ needs by providing modification and adaptions strategies, particularly for their tests, exams, assignments and projects.”
Aiwa said each student was encouraged and supported to be independent and function competently, just like any other students enrolled in the same programme or course.
He said special consideration was only given when students with special needs required content adaptation or accommodation.
“Content is slightly modified to meet the student’s learning needs in terms of adaptation,” Aiwa said.
“In accommodation, students are provided extra time or provided with bigger font size content apart of other support provided. We faced disagreements by many people but ensured these issues were resolved at meetings.”
The UOG is the first university in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific to include students with special needs in their educational programmes with maximum support.