FG Bans Admissions For Under 18 Across All Nigerian Universities, Stakeholders Protest

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has announced a ban on admissions for candidates under the age of 18 into tertiary institutions in the country.

He made the announcement while speaking at the 2024 policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

“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.

The minister, said the Federal Government was considering the adoption of 18 years as the entry age for admission into universities and other tertiary institutions of learning.

The minister said that the 18-year benchmark is in line with the 6-3-3-4 system of education.

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He further stated that for those who will not be able to gain admission into tertiary institutions, the Ministry of Education is taking skills to pupils from primary school.

However, many stakeholders who were at the 2024 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) policy meeting were left completely stunned when the Minister made the announcement.

Immediately after the Minister made the comment in his address and policy directive, the crowd roared “no, no, no” but Tahir insisted that it is already a policy which the government has keyed into because it is the expectation that candidates are much more mature at 18 years old.

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He said if anyone was aggrieved, they can approach the National Assembly for an amendment.

The JAMB policy meeting is an annual event where stakeholders from the various tertiary institutions in the country sit to decide on appropriate cut-off marks for admissions in the current academic year.