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 today 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
Nigeria Education Minister Prof Tahir Mamman, has made a U-turn in his earlier statement, where he directed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to admit only candidates who have attained 18 years in tertiary institutions.
Mamman in a policy meeting organised by JAMB, in Abuja, announced that only applicants who were 18 years and above were eligible for admission but Stakeholders in the meeting kicked against his statement, noting that its illogical for a 16-year-old student to pass WAEC, JAMB and be denied admission.
Reacting to that, 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 meeting was held following the successful conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). A total of 1,989,668 registered candidates for this year’s UTME.
Out of the 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80,810 were absent while a total of 1,904,189 sat for the UTME within the six days of the examination.
The policy meeting was chaired by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, and decided following recommendations by the heads of institutions.
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.
REACTIONS
This tells you that old men are in public office in Nigeria.
They are too old and have lost touch of the present day realities. They are not futuristic in their thinking.
From time immemorial, it is said that *age is not a barrier to education*. From the way these bunch behave in the ministry of education; they always interpret this saying as though it applies to only old age.
This is the reason there are dilapidated buildings all over the country, which everyone commonly refers to as public schools.
In these wrecked buildings, there are no signs of modernity, such as science laboratory, computer labs, digital blackboard, ICT center, and anything that has to do with the enhancement of quality Gain Admission Into University