The Senate has said that recent discussions regarding the minimum age requirement for admission into tertiary institutions were personal opinions and the required age stood at 16.
Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, recently said that candidate below 18 years old would be denied admission into tertiary institutions.
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Minimum Age For Tertiary Institutions’ Admission Pegged At 18 Years
However, The Red Chamber assured Nigerians that the current age requirement of 16 years had not been altered.
In the brochure of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), a candidate must have attained the age of 16 years or would have done so on the first day of October in the year of his/her candidature.
The Senate held that recent comments suggesting an increase to 18 years were unofficial personal opinions.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Adeyemi Adaramodu, emphasised that any changes to the age requirement would require legislative action following due process.
Adaramodu explained in an interview with journalists that comments made by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, about increasing the minimum age limit were not legally binding but rather personal opinions.
The Minister recently said plans were afoot to review and raise the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions to 18 years.
