JAMB sanctions officials for asking female candidates to remove head coverings

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has sanctioned some of its accredited officers for asking a female candidate wearing a hijab for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to remove her head covering before she could sit for the exam .

The board said this on Sunday in a statement signed by its public communications advisor (PCA), Fabian Benjamin.

The statement, which was in response to publications on some news platforms entitled; “RE: LAGOS CENTER STOPS HIJAB-WEARING CANDIDATES AS UTME BEGINS,” said the incident was immediately resolved when the female candidate was allowed to sit for the UTME wearing her hijab on Saturday.

While saying JAMB has no policy prohibiting candidates from wearing the religious paraphernalia inherent in their religious beliefs, the board said the affected officials acted in ignorance, which does not excuse the law.

Meanwhile, the examination body also revealed that approximately 1.2 million candidates would have successfully taken the UTME on Monday, April 22, 2024.

The statement read: “The attention of the board was drawn to an unfortunate incident at the Bafuto Institute, Ile-Iwe Bus Stand, Ejigbo, Lagos, where it was reported by Muslim News of Sunday, April 21, 2024 and other platforms, that a candidate who wearing a hijab during the accreditation process was asked to remove her head covering before being allowed into the exam hall.

“The Council deeply regretted the incident and upon investigation discovered that this particular incident, or other past incidents, is not related to any of the investigation guidelines, but rather is a product of the misplaced priority of some of the accredited partners of the Council or officers who claimed that they were not aware of the Council’s guidelines on accreditation, which ensures that all candidates are screened, allowing only female officers to screen female candidates before being allowed into the venue.

“This situation was immediately addressed by a senior official of the center’s administration and the candidate in question was admitted wearing her hijab after the usual checks.

“However, since ignorance of the law is no excuse, the officials have been suitably sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to others, who may want to follow the same line in the future.

“It is worth noting that the Board, as a national institution, has no policy that prevents candidates from wearing religious paraphernalia inherent to their religious beliefs as these are the facts of everyday life in Nigeria that everyone should already be familiar with are. now.

“Furthermore, the Council assures the general public that this matter will be properly investigated, as it has done in previous incidents, to prevent recurrence, and that nothing will be swept under the carpet.

“The Board is committed to fulfilling its statutory role of ensuring that suitably qualified candidates are selected for admission into the country’s tertiary institutions and will not allow anything or anyone to distract it from the pursuit of this noble goal .

“Meanwhile, the conduct of the UTME 2024, which commenced on Friday, April 19, 2024, was seamless as over 1.2 million candidates would have successfully sat the examination on Monday, April 22, 2024.”