By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has made a U-turn and accepted 16 years as the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria after initially setting a barrier of 18 years.
The Minister of Education, Mr Tahir Mamman, had at the ongoing 2024 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions directed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to admit only students who have attained the age of 18 years into tertiary institutions in its 2024 admission process.
The pronouncement led to protests by Vice Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts, and other stakeholders.
It wasn’t until the intervention of JAMB Registrar, Mr Ishaq Oloyede, who quelled the tension was the decision rescinded.
The Minister later accepted the suggestions of the stakeholders that those from 16 years and above should be eligible for this year’s admission while the law would apply from next year.
However, he insisted that the law required that their children should be in school at 18 years, having attended six years in primary school, three years in Junior Secondary School, and three years in senior secondary school.
He noted that the meeting was to ensure that the process of admission for 2024/2025 was fair, arguing that the position of the Federal Ministry of Education had not changed from any institution that does admission outside the right process, which is the Central Application Process (CAP).
The 2024 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions, organised by JAMB, was put in place to determine the modality and guidelines for admissions into tertiary institutions for the 2024 academic session.
Modupe Gbadeyanka