- Safiu Kehinde
The federal government has set 16 years as minimum age for admission into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
This was announced by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on Tuesday during the opening of the ongoing Policy Meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Abuja.
The minister maintained that the new policy reflects a balance between cognitive maturity and academic preparedness.
According to report, Alausa noted that the minimum entry age of 16 is non-negotiable as he directed all institutions to comply with the new policy.
Also affirming the Minister;s directive, JAMB maintained that the 16-year age requirement has been enforced through its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), with efforts made to accommodate candidates who would turn 16 by 31st August 2025.
The board however expressed concern that some institutions had violated this directive by admitting underage candidates through channels outside CAPS and collecting substantial amounts from them as tuition fees.
“The Board implemented the 16-year admissible age on its CAPS platform and even bent backwards to accommodate candidates who would be 16 as of 31st August 2025.
“However, some institutions admitted candidates who were not up to the admissible age of 16 outside CAPS and even collected huge sums of money from them as tuition fees,” JAMB stated.
It declared such admissions illegal as they could not be processed through CAPS.
Some of the cases, according to JAMB, had led to litigation against the offending institutions.
More details later…