The 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, which had commenced from Friday, April 19, 2024, had been seamless as over 1.2 million candidates would have successfully taken the their examination.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, said yesterday its official who directed a female candidate to remove her hijab before entering the examination hall in Lagos had been appropriately sanctioned
Report had emerged that a candidate wearing a hijab was asked to remove her it during the validation process before being allowed into the examination hall at Bafuto Institute, Ile-Iwe Bus Stop, Ejigbo, Lagos.
The development had been trailed by controversies, as some persons of a particular religious faith rose against this action.
Reacting to the development in a statement yesterday, the board, which said such action was not in line with its rules, explained that the official was sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to others who might wish to toe the same line.
In the statement, tagged “Re: Lagos Centre Stops Hijab-wearing Candidates”, through its spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB expressed regret at the incident.
The Board have expressed deed regret over this ugly 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