No tertiary education admission for under-18s, federal government insists

The Federal Government has reiterated that candidates must be at least 18 years old to be admitted into tertiary institutions.

The Education Minister Tahir Mamman announced this during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics program. He further stated that the Federal Government has instructed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) to prevent underage children from taking their examinations.

He stressed that no candidate will sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) until they clock 18 years.

He said, “It is 18 (years). What we did at the meeting that we had with JAMB (in July) was to allow this year and for it to serve as a kind of notice for parents that this year, JAMB will admit students who are below that age but from next year, JAMB is going to insist that anybody applying to go to university in Nigeria meets the required age, which is 18.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a new policy; this is a policy that has been there for a long time.

“Even basically, if you compute the number of years pupils, and learners are supposed to be in school, the number you will end up with is 17 and a half – from early child care to primary school to junior secondary school and then senior secondary school.

“You will end up with 17 and a half by the time they are ready for admission.

“In any case, NECO and WAEC, henceforth will not be allowing underage children to write their examinations.

“In other words, if somebody has not spent the requisite number of years in that particular level of study, WAEC and NECO will not allow them to write the examination.”