Wednesday, July 9, 2025 - The federal government has officially pegged the age for admission into the nation’s tertiary institutions at age 16.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said this on
Tuesday, July 8, while declaring open the ongoing Policy Meeting of the Joint
Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, in Abuja.
Alausa declared that the official age of 16 set by the
government is not negotiable.
He also warned that any admission conducted outside of the
Central Admission Processing System, CAPS, would be illegal and perpetrators
would be prosecuted.
He said that the heads of institutions found to be engaged
in admission fraud would face prosecution.
Recall that the former Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman
had directed JAMB and tertiary institutions to stop admitting under-18-year-old
candidates into higher education programmes.
However, by July 2024, Mamman made a u-turn on his earlier
directive. During the review of the memorandum for the 2024 policy meeting on
the year’s admissions, Mamman later called for the adoption of 16
years.
This decision came after objections and appeals from
stakeholders, including rectors, registrars, vice chancellor and other
principal officers, present at the 2024 admission policy meeting organised by
JAMB, in Abuja on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Today, July 8, 2025, the current Minister of Education,
Tunji Alausa pegged the official age of admission at 16.
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