The Federal Government has formally pegged the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions at 16 years.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday, at the 2025 policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The 16-year age requirement will be enforced through its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), with efforts made to accommodate candidates who would turn 16 by 31st August 2025.
”This policy decision reflects a balance between cognitive maturity and academic preparedness. 16 years is non-negotiable,” he said.
However, JAMB expressed concern that some institutions had violated this directive by admitting underage candidates through channels outside CAPS and collecting substantial amounts from them as tuition fees.
“The Board implemented the 16-year admissible age on its CAPS platform and even bent backwards to accommodate candidates who would be 16 as of 31st August 2025.
“However, some institutions admitted candidates who were not up to the admissible age of 16 outside CAPS and even collected huge sums of money from them as tuition fees,” JAMB stated.
He noted that provisions existed for clearly documented and justified exceptions like gifted children with accelerated educational progress.
He warned institutions against attempting to circumvent the rule by altering age records, stressing that such acts would attract sanctions.
The minister also unveiled new measures to curb the scourge of examination malpractices, which he described as a “cancer” undermining merit and eroding confidence in Nigeria’s education system.
He announced the establishment of a Central Examination Malpractice Unit within the Federal Ministry of Education, noting that this would be chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Abel Enitan.
He added that this unit would serve as a national clearing house for documenting and reporting malpractices cases across all levels of education.
”This central database will be accessible to all institutions.
“It is our hope that this will reduce the tendency to engage in malpractices, as offenders will be appropriately tried under the Exam Malpractices Act,” the minister said.
He also confirmed the government’s support for WAEC and NECO to adopt computer-based testing to curb malpractices.
