THE Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, a professor, has made u-turn on his earlier directive mandating the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and Nigerian tertiary institutions not to admit candidates below 18 years.
This decision came after objections and appeals from stakeholders, including rectors, registrars, vice chancellor and other principal officers, present at the 2024 admission policy meeting organised by JAMB,in Abuja on Thursday, July 18.
The ICIR reports that Mamman directed JAMB and tertiary institutions to stop admitting under-18-year-old candidates into higher education programmes.
Mamman gave the order in the same meeting, decrying the activities of some parents, whom he said pressured their underage wards to get admission into tertiary institutions.
“JAMB is hereby instructed this year to admit only eligible students. That is those who have attained 18 years by our laws,” the minister said.
The minister emphasised that his stance is supported by Nigeria’s law governing admissions into tertiary institutions, noting that admission bodies should recognise this requirement without being directed to obey it.
“Our laws require students to be in school from six years —Yes, there are those who do that from five—, and remain in primary school for six years, basic education for three years, and secondary school for three years… It doesn’t require a statement of the minister… we are only restating what is in the law,” he added.
His announcement sparked mixed reactions among vice-chancellors, rectors and registrars present at the meeting, with some stakeholders present at the meeting protesting the new minimum admission age.
However, during the review of the memorandum for the 2024 policy meeting on this year’s admissions, Mamman later called for the adoption of 16 years.
The minister agreed that candidates aged 16 and above would be admitted, acknowledging that many of these underage candidates had already taken the UTME without prior knowledge of the directive.
“For practical reasons, we will go with that,” Mr Mamman said.
JAMB pegs varsity cut-off mark at 140
Meanwhile, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has pegged the cut-off mark for admission into the nation’s universities 140.
This development was announced by the JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, at the meeting.
The board also fixed 100 as the minimum cut-off point mark for admission into polytechnics and colleges of education.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M