FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS: MINIMUM ENTRY AGE REMAINS 18 YEARS 23-04-24
By Sadiq Aminu The Federal Government has directed that admission into tertiary institutions should not be given to candidates that are younger than 18 years.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, gave the directive yesterday while monitoring the ongoing 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) at Bwari in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The minister decried the activities of some parents who he said put pressure on their underage children to get admissions into tertiary institutions,
He explained that the 18-year benchmark is in line with the nation’s 6-3-3-4 system of education.
“The minimum age of entry into the university is 18, but we have seen students who are 15, 16 years going in for the entrance examination.
“Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards too much. Mostly, it is the pressure of parents that is causing this.
“We are going to look at this development because the candidates are too young to understand what university education is all about.
“This is the period when children migrate from controlled to uncontrolled environment; when they are in charge of their own affairs.
“But if they are too young, they won’t be able to manage properly. I think that is part of what we are seeing in the Universities today,” Mamman said.
On skill acquisition for those who will not be able to gain admissions into tertiary institutions, the minister said the ministry was taking skills to pupils from primary school.
“In overall, it is 20 per cent that can be admitted into the university, polytechnic, and colleges of education system.
“So, where will the 80 per cent go to? That is why the issue of skills acquisition is very important.
“Any student who is unable to proceed to tertiary institutions should be able to have a meaningful life after primary and secondary school education. The only solution to this is skills acquisition,” he said.
The spokesperson of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Dr. Fabian Benjamin, corroborated the minister’s position, saying 18 years is in line with the 6-3-3-4 education system.
The Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, who was in the monitoring team, applauded the conduct of this year’s UTME, particularly the introduction of online examinations to check malpractices.
He said the Computer-Based Test (CBT) had reduced examination malpractices to the barest minimum.
Sununu praise JAMB for setting a good simple and high standard for the examination.