Jubilation as FG Lifts Ban on University Admission for Under-18, Announced Cut-off Mark

The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, has reversed a controversial directive that barred universities from admitting candidates under the age of 18.

This decision was announced during the 2024 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions in Abuja, chaired by the Minister, where key stakeholders in the education sector, including the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Omoyele, were present.

Several university representatives and education experts at the meeting highlighted the issues with the initial directive, emphasizing that it overlooked various factors influencing students’ educational development. They also pointed out the timing of the directive, which was problematic as many under-18 candidates had already taken the JAMB examination before the policy was announced.

In response to these concerns, Minister Mamman directed JAMB to suspend the ban on under-18 admissions for the current year, allowing those candidates to be admitted. However, he stated that the new minimum admission age requirement would take effect in 2025.

Despite some challenges to the updated directive, the minister reiterated that the policy was backed by law and instructed JAMB to admit only eligible students who are at least 18 years old from 2025 onwards.

Furthermore, he said, “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,” the minister added.

Consequently, JAMB has tweeted in official X (formerly Twitter) handle, thus: “Candidates who are 16 years old would be considered for admissions into tertiary institutions for the 2024 academic year, however, the entry age would be 18 years as from next academic year”.

Also, JAMB announced a ratified cut-off mark policy guideline to universities, in its tweet, saying that, “There’s no such thing as ‘cut-off mark’ in admission process to tertiary institutions in Nigeria, what’s obtainable is minimum tolerable score determinable