The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has taken disciplinary action against accredited officials involved in an incident where a hijab-wearing female candidate was asked to remove her head cover before sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The board swiftly addressed the issue, allowing the candidate to proceed with the examination while expressing regret over the incident.
In a statement released by Dr Fabian Benjamin, the Public Communication Advisor of JAMB, the examination body announced sanctions against its accredited officials in the incident involving a hijab-wearing candidate.
The incident occurred at the Bafuto Institute in Ejigbo, Lagos, and sparked concerns after being reported by various news platforms.
Part of the statement read: “The attention of the board was drawn to an unfortunate incident at the Bafuto Institute, Ile-Iwe Bus Stop, Ejigbo, Lagos, where it was reported by Muslim News of Sunday, April 21, 2024, and other platforms, that a candidate donning hijab was asked to remove her head cover during the accreditation process before being allowed into the examination hall.
“The board deeply regretted the incident and, on investigation, discovered that this particular incident or others in the past is not linked to any of its examination guidelines but rather a product of the misplaced priority of some of the board’s accredited partners or officials who claimed ignorance of the board’s guidelines on accreditation, which ensures that all candidates are screened, allowing only female officials to screen female candidates before allowing them to gain entrance into the hall.”
Additionally, the statement noted that approximately 1.2 million candidates would have completed the UTME by the specified date, indicating the scale and significance of the examination.