The federal government, represented by Minister of Education Professor Tahir Mamman, has reversed its previous directive, which mandated the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to admit only candidates who have attained 18 years in tertiary institutions.
This reversal was announced on Thursday during an ongoing policy meeting organized by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Abuja.
Earlier in the meeting, Prof. Mamman declared that only applicants who were 18 years of age and older would be eligible for admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions. However, this announcement was met with strong opposition from stakeholders, who argued that it was illogical to deny admission to 16-year-olds who had successfully passed their West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and JAMB exams.
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Acknowledging the stakeholders’ concerns, Prof. Mamman subsequently agreed to their suggestions. He announced that candidates aged 16 and above would be eligible for admission this year, with the 18-year age requirement to be implemented next year.
In related developments, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has set the cut-off marks for 2024 admissions. The cut-off mark for universities has been set at 140, while polytechnics and colleges of education have a cut-off mark of 100.
These decisions were made during the 2024 annual policy meeting on admissions, held at the Body of Benchers Headquarters in Abuja.
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The policy meeting followed the successful conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), in which 1,989,668 candidates registered. Of these, 1,904,189 candidates sat for the examination over six days, while 80,810 were absent.
JAMB Registrar Is-haq Oloyede, who announced the cut-off marks, explained that individual institutions have the autonomy to set their minimum benchmarks above the approved cut-off but cannot go below the specified marks for their respective categories.
The meeting, chaired by Prof. Mamman, emphasized the importance of maintaining standards while also being flexible enough to accommodate deserving candidates who meet the necessary academic requirements.
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The revised age policy and new cut-off marks are expected to streamline the admission process and ensure that more qualified candidates have the opportunity to pursue higher education in Nigeria.