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HomeNewsMinimum Age For Tertiary Institutions' Admission Pegged At 18 Years

Minimum Age For Tertiary Institutions’ Admission Pegged At 18 Years

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The Federal Government has said that admission into tertiary institutions be denied candidates who are less than 18 years old.

Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, gave the directive on Monday while monitoring the ongoing 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Bwari, Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.

The Minister condemned parents pressuring underage children to gain admission into tertiary institutions.

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According to Mamman, the 18-year benchmark complied with the 6-3-3-4 education system.

He said: “The minimum age of entry into the university is 18, but we have seen students who are 15 or 16 years old 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 the whole university education is all about.”

On youth incapable of gaining admission into tertiary institutions, Mamman said the ministry was taking skills to pupils from primary school.

He said: “Overall, it is 20 percent that can be admitted into the university, polytechnic, and colleges of education systems.

“So, where will the 80 percent go? That is why the issue of skill 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, and the only solution to this is skill acquisition.”

JAMB spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, backed the minister’s position and said 18 years was in line with 6-3-3-4 education system.

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