Following a protest by stakeholders on the minimum age for admissions into tertiary institutions, minister of education Prof. Tahir Mamman said on Thursday that the admission age of 18 will take effect from 2025.
Prof. Mamman earlier announced at the 2024 ongoing policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Examination that the minimum age requirement for the 2024/2025 session would be 18.
Stakeholders reacted in the negative, turning the session into a rowdy one.
JAMB registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, however, managed to restore order to the policy meeting.
After consultations with other stakeholders, Oloyede said, “At the time they (candidates) were taking the examinations, they were not aware. So if we want to enforce it then it should be for subsequent years.”
The minister, however, noted that the ban would be set aside for 2024 admissions.
“Information has revealed that the enrolment of underage candidates is inflicting serious damage on the university and the education system, hence, the need for enforcement of extant rules.
“When I was monitoring the just concluded 2024 UTME, I was alarmed at the participation of a large number of obviously under-age candidates in the examination.
“This necessitated my comment on the need to enforce the extant provisions of the educational policies which made provision for nine years of basic education and three years of Senior Secondary Education before entry into tertiary institution.
“It is clear that a child who, as expected is enrolled in basic school at the age of six and having undergone 12 years of education would be around 18 years old when being enrolled in a tertiary institution.
“Flowing from this, JAMB is hereby instructed to admit only eligible students’ i.e those who have attained 18 years.
“Universities are advised to avoid recommending unqualified children for admission,” he added.
