WAEC is for West African countries while NECO and JAMB are national exams, in both cases, candidates with different values, cultures and religions come together to write the exams. Of course, there will always be disorderliness if each candidate is allowed to do whatever he/she likes, and at the same time, each of them has fundamental rights that should never be violated. To strike the balance in this regard, I believe, is one of the responsibilities of these exams’ councils and boards.
At every centers where any of these exams is being taken, the rules and regulations outlined by the exam council/board ought to be the only guiding code in the environment where the center is situated for as long as the exam lasts. If the examination rule gives candidates the freedom to choose between covering and uncovering his/her head to sit for the exam,, no any other individual should have right to dictate otherwise.
It’s not just about the recent noise about RCCG allegedly not allowing hijab-wearing Muslim female candidates entrance into their Camp, we have heard cases where female candidates are not allowed into examination halls in certain Muslim schools, including govt-owned ones, because their heads were uncovered.
I believe these rules exist, maybe it’s time the exam boards start pasting them on the entrance gates of each of the exam centers as reminders to the candidates and examiners alike. Let the candidates know the kind of hairstyles, dressings and whatever else are allowed for the exam, and exam officers know what rules to enforce.
While there shouldn’t be any reason for govt-owned schools and other structures to disallow what is allowed by the exams’ boards, any private-owned territories where the exam rules and regulations can’t be tolerated, for whatever reasons, need not apply for or be allowed to be used for the exam, except in situations where students can choose their preferred centers for the view.
