The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has sanctioned a few of its accredited officers for asking a hijab-wearing feminine candidate of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), to take away her headcover earlier than she may sit for the examination.
The Board stated this in a press release signed by its Public Communication Advisor (PCA), Fabian Benjamin, on Sunday.
The assertion, which was in response to publications on some information platforms titled; ‘RE: LAGOS CENTRE STOPS HIJAB-WEARING CANDIDATES AS UTME COMMENCES,’ stated the incident was immediately resolved with the feminine candidate being allowed to take a seat for the UTME along with her hijab on Saturday.
Whereas saying that JAMB has no coverage barring candidates from sporting the spiritual paraphernalia peculiar to their spiritual persuasions, the Board stated the affected officers acted in ignorance, which isn’t an excuse earlier than the legislation.
In the meantime, the examination physique additionally revealed that about 1.2 million candidates would have efficiently taken the UTME by Monday, April 22, 2024.
The assertion learn: “The eye of the Board was drawn to an unlucky incident on the Bafuto Institute, Ile-Iwe Bus Cease, Ejigbo, Lagos, the place it was reported by Muslim Information of Sunday, twenty first April, 2024, and different platforms, {that a} candidate donning hijab was requested to take away her headcover through the accreditation course of earlier than being allowed into the examination corridor.
“The Board deeply regretted the incident and, on investigation, found, that this explicit incident, or others up to now, isn’t linked to any of its examination pointers however slightly a product of the misplaced precedence of a few of the Board’s accredited companions or officers who claimed ignorance of the Board’s pointers on accreditation, which ensures that each one candidates are screened, permitting solely feminine officers to display feminine candidates earlier than permitting them to achieve entrance into the corridor.
“This case was immediately addressed by a senior official of the Board on the centre and the candidate in query allowed in after the standard checks along with her hijab.
“Nevertheless, since ignorance of the legislation isn’t an excuse, the officers have been appropriately sanctioned to function a deterrent to others, who may want to toe the identical line going ahead.
“It’s worthy of word that the Board, as a nationwide establishment, has no coverage barring candidates from sporting the spiritual paraphernalia peculiar to their spiritual persuasions, as these are the details of on a regular basis life in Nigeria, which everybody ought to have been aware of by now.
“Moreover, the Board assures most people that this difficulty shall be correctly investigated, because it had executed in previous incidents, to stop a recurrence, and nothing shall be swept beneath the carpet.
“The Board is dedicated to the discharge of its statutory position of making certain that suitably-qualified candidates are chosen for admission into the nation’s tertiary establishments and wouldn’t enable something or anybody to detract it from the pursuit of this noble objective.
“In the meantime, the conduct of the 2024 UTME, which commenced on Friday, nineteenth April, 2024, had been seamless, as over 1.2 million candidates would have efficiently taken the examination by Monday, twenty second April, 2024.”