UTME: 16-Years Minimum Age Requirement for Varsity Admission Signed As Law? Senate Speaks
- Nigerians would now heave a sigh of relief as the Senate reaffirms the 16-year age limit for University admissions in Nigeria
- The development arose following the outcome of the just concluded dresults of some UTME candidates in the just-concluded exams after the minister of education disclosed that there will be a review of the minimum entry age into tertiary institutions in Nigeria
- The senate spokesperson, Adeyemi Adaramodu, clarified the age limit and shared further details
TheTalk.NG journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
FCT, Abuja – The Senate has assured Nigerians that the 16-year age requirement for applicants seeking admissions to tertiary institutions in the country has not been changed.
The red chamber insisted that the comments about increasing the age limit to 18 years for university admission in Nigeria remains a matter to be legislated upon.
Adeyemi Adaramodu, the chairman of the senate committee on media and publicity, made this clarification during an interview with a group of journalists in Abuja, on Thursday, May 2, ThisDay reported.
Tahir Mamman, the minister of education, earlier stated that the minimum age for admission into Nigerian higher institutions is 18.
The minister spoke about the matter while assessing the conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Abuja.
Also, there were insinuations that the minister had instructed the leadership of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) not to release the 2024 UTME results of applicants below 18 years.
However, the Senate through its spokesperson declared that nothing would be done on the minimum age requirement into tertiary institutions until all the stakeholders in the education sector endorse it.
He also dismissed insinuations that the JAMB would not to release the results of applicants below 18 years.
But in reaction to the minister’s comment, Adaramodu said:
“Comment on the minimum age requirement for admission is not a law. So it is just an opinion.
“Even if they say that the minimum age should be 30 or 12 we will all discuss it at an open forum. So it’s still a comment which cannot be taken to be the law.”
JAMB debunks viral UTME 2024 results on social media
TheTalk.NG reported earlier that JAMB had alerted the public to be cautious about some social media results that have gone viral.
The board said the 2024 UTME results are unavailable on the candidates’ portal yet, so any result on a printed slip is fake and forged.
This development contrasts with last year when candidates could check their scores on the Jamb official website.
Source: TheTalk.NG
