No fewer than 50 prison inmates will sit for the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), according to an official.

The Principal of Ikoyi Prisons School, Mr Idris Ibikunle disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

According to him, the school has prepared the inmates well for the examination as officials of the facility had stepped up efforts in ensuring an excellent performance.

“Right now, we are preparing about 50 of the inmates for the next UTME and by what I see, they are very determined to excel.

“We are yet to enroll them for the examination proper. We want to give a little more room for others interested so we can do the enrolment once.

“I am optimistic that we will enroll more than 50 of the inmates for the examination,’’ Ibikunle told NAN.

Earlier this year, 59 inmates were registered for the 2017 UTME out which 35 had their results released and are at various stages of admission placement to tertiary institutions.

The principal also said that 40 inmates were being prepared for the newly introduced 2018 January/February diet of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates.

According to him, prisons officials were committed to ensuring that the inmates had nothing to lose academically, despite their incarceration.

NAN recalls that the principal had, at the maiden edition of the facility’s Education Award ceremony recently in Lagos, said that 20 of the inmates were running various courses in different disciplines at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

He said they were posting impressive performances in their chosen fields, ranging from Criminology, Security and Peace Studies, Theology, Business Administration to Mass Communication

He, however, highlighted some constraints facing the school in the prison facility.

“We are in need of stationery as well as the establishment of a befitting Computer Based Test centre for our external examinations.

“We, therefore, call for support from well-meaning Nigerians and organisations to join hands with us in ensuring that the dreams of these persons are kept alive,” he said. (NAN)