Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, has waved the 18 years benchmark for admission into tertiary institutions. At an ongoing policy meeting organised by the Joint Admission Matriculations Board (JAMB) in Abuja, Mamman had announced that only applicants who were 18 years and above were eligible for admission. This had sparked a controversy as stakeholders across tertiary institutions in the country, kicked against what the minister said. Immediately after Mamman made the utterance, the hall erupted in rowdiness. In a move to calm frayed nerves, the Minister had asked, “Are we together?”, to which the attendees chorused “No!” It took the intervention of JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, before normalcy was restored. While reacting to the grumblings from the participants, he insisted that the law required that their children should be in school at 18 years, having attended six years in primary school, three years in Junior Secondary School and three years in senior secondary school. The Minister noted that the meeting was to ensure that the process of admission for 2024/2024 was fair.   He said the position of the Federal Ministry of Education had not changed from any institution that does admission outside the right process, which is Central Application Process (CAP). One of the participants who did not want to be named said: “That is not possible, how can a child finish school write WAEC and JAMB and passed and you deny him admission?” But the minister later accepted the suggestions of the stakeholders that from 16 years and above should be eligible for this year’s admission while the law would apply from next year.

  The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has pegged 140 as a cut-off mark for admission into the university. The board also fixed 100 as the minimum cut-off point mark for admission into polytechnics and colleges of education. JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede announced this on Thursday in Abuja at the 2024 Policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). The meeting had in attendance the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, vice-chancellors, rectors and registrars of higher institutions and other stakeholders. Minimum Entry Age At the meeting, the minister directed that admission to tertiary institutions should not be given to candidates under 18 years old. Though the announcement elicited mixed reactions from vice-chancellors, rectors and registrars present at the meeting, the minister decried the activities of some parents, who are pressuring their underage wards to get admission into tertiary institutions. Mamman said that the 18-year benchmark is in line with the 6-3-3-4 system of education. “JAMB is hereby instructed from admission this year to admit only eligible students. That is those who have attained 18 years by our laws,” the minister. He insisted that his position was backed by Nigeria’s law guiding admissions into tertiary institutions. He said it shouldn’t require a statement from him for that to be taken into consideration by admission bodies. “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,” he added. Professor Mamman added that for those who will not be able to gain admission into tertiary institutions, the Ministry of Education is taking skills to pupils from primary school.

  The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, on Thursday announced a ban on admissions for candidates under the age of 18 into tertiary institutions in the country. Mamman announced during the 2024 policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.   “JAMB is hereby notified that there is now a ban on underaged students, those under the age of 18 into our tertiary institutions from this 2024 admissions,” Mamman said. The minister, said the Federal Government was considering the adoption of 18 years as the entry age for admission into universities and other tertiary institutions of learning. Details later…

  The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, said on Thursday a new curriculum would be introduced for secondary schools nationwide by September 2024. Tahir made this known at the ongoing 2024 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board policy meeting in Abuja. “We are working hard to ensure that a new curriculum is introduced for secondary schools by September,” Mamman said. Mamman noted that the exercise has been on for the past year and a stakeholders meeting will be held on August 6,2024. “It is our plan that by September, this programme will be implemented in all schools, public and private,” the minister said. Recently, the National Senior Secondary School Education Commission decried the deplorable state of senior secondary schools in the country and called for collaboration to overcome some of the challenges bedevilling the secondary level of education in the country. The commission listed some of the challenges confronting the sector, including infrastructural deficit, unqualified teachers, obsolete curriculum, and deplorable libraries and laboratories. It was also noted that plans were ongoing to introduce a new curriculum. Details later…

  Over one million students were admitted illegally by some tertiary institutions in the country, Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Is-haq Oloyede has said. Oloyede stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the ongoing policy meeting on 2023/2024 admissions. The policy meeting, which has heads of tertiary institutions in the country, and other stakeholders, sets the tone for admissions into tertiary institutions in the country. He said the Board has been able to regularise 600 of the numbers admitted illegally. Oloyede said a lot of the students with illegal admissions don’t have the basic qualifications into the course they registered to study.   “Over 1 million students were admitted illegally. We registered about 600 of them because a lot of them don’t have the basic qualifications,” Oloyede said