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The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, has declared that candidates below the age of eighteen would no longer be granted admission to tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The Minister stated this while speaking on Thursday at the 2024 Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) policy meeting in Abuja.
According to the Minister, this decision is in line with Nigeria’s law, which prohibits the admission of underage students to tertiary institutions.
He emphasized that no one should recommend anyone less than 18 years old for admission, stressing that this guideline must be strictly followed.
The directive affects all tertiary institutions such as Universities, Polytechnics and others.
“I have been a Vice Chancellor for seven years. I have first-hand information, and I have seen how these underage students struggle to cope in several ways whenever they are prematurely pushed into these universities prematurely.
“…JAMB is hereby notified that there is now a ban on underaged students, those under the age of 18 into our tertiary institutions from this 2024 admissions,” Mamman said.
Stakeholders and attendees at the policy meeting, however, expressed their dissatisfaction with the new policy announcement.
Right after the Minister made the announcement at the event held in the Body of Benchers’ auditorium in Abuja, attendees hall began protesting loudly, shouting, “No, no, no.”
However, the Minister ignored the protest and explained that the decision was already a federal government policy.
According to him, the action was aimed at addressing some of the major problems facing tertiary institutions, especially universities.
Naija News recalls that back in April, Prof. Mamman had expressed concerns over the increasing number of underage students gaining entry into universities, revealing plans to set the minimum entry age at 18 years.
This initiative was announced during his monitoring of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Abuja.