Monday, April 22, 2024 -The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that it has sanctioned some of its accredited officials for demanding that a hijab-wearing candidate at Saturday’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination must remove her hijab.
It was alleged that some JAMB officials at
an exam center in Lagos, insisted that the candidate removed her hijab before
being allowed in.
Announcing the sanction, the exam body said
in a statement.
“The Board deeply regrets the incident and,
on an investigation, discovered, that this particular incident, or others in
the past, is not linked to any of its examination guidelines.
“It was rather a product of the misplaced
priority of some of the accredited partners or officials who claimed ignorance
of the Board’s guidelines on accreditation.
“The guidelines ensure that all candidates are screened, allowing only female
officials to screen female candidates before allowing them to gain entrance
into the hall.
“The situation was instantly addressed by a senior official of the Board at the
centre and the candidate in question was allowed in after the usual checks with
her hijab.
“Since ignorance of the law is not an
excuse, the officials have been sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to others.’’
JAMB's Public
Communication Advisor, Dr Fabian Benjamin also said the officials acted in
ignorance as JAMB had no policy barring candidates from wearing the religious
paraphernalia peculiar to their faith
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