The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has maintained that the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions for the 2024/2025 academic session remained 16 years.
Dr Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor (CPA), disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the board’s headquarters on Sunday, in Abuja.
“For the 2024 admission cycle, candidates who will be at least sixteen (16) years old at the time of admission will be considered eligible,” Dr Benjamin stated.
Benjamin said the decision follows the directive from the Chairman of the 2024 tertiary admission policy meeting, who is also the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, that the extant policy of 6-3-3-4 be enforced only from the 2025 session.
“The alarming avalanche of obviously false affidavits and upsurge of doctored upward age-adjustments on NIN slips being submitted to JAMB to upgrade recorded age is dangerous, inimical and unnecessary. Only those below 16 would not and should not be admitted in accordance with the decision of the 2024 Policy Meeting,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, JAMB has directed all institutions to disclose within one month, details of all candidates they illegally admitted prior to 2017.
Benjamin said that the board had resolved that it would no longer entertain absorption of illegal admissions by institutions through the window of “Condonment of Illegal Admissions”, without registration number.
The move, he explained, was aimed at curbing illegal admissions, falsification of records and ensuring compliance with the provisions of Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS).
He said that all institutions were being reminded that JAMB had previously requested the disclosure of all illegitimate admissions offered to candidates outside CAPS, between 2017 and 2020, due to abuse of window.
“This directive followed the waiver on recommendation of JAMB by the former Minister of Education, which allowed institutions to transit to conducting admissions exclusively through the CAPS platform in 2020.
“We then opened the window of Condonment of Undisclosed Institutional Illegal Admissions (CUIIA), 2017 to 2020.
“Regrettably, the board has observed that some institutions have continued to admit candidates outside CAPS and subsequently apply for this CUIIA.
“It is quite embarrassing that some institutions have been found to backdate such recent admissions to 2020 to fit within the time frame of CUIIA.
“Consequently, the board is terminating the aspect of CUIIA process which allows completely unregistered candidates to be introduced to the system.
“CAPS is the only authorised platform for admissions; those who have registration but were illegally admitted between 2017 to 2020 would soon be denied the opportunity of the waiver, unless they are disclosed within the next one month.”
The period of disclosure, he stated, begins from August 1.
Benjamin added that the board would not tolerate further, any undisclosed admission by any institution, while urging candidates to pursue education through legitimate and recognised means, so they don’t fall victims.
He also advised candidates seeking admissions to be cautious of illegitimate and unrecognised part-time programmes, which he added, would also not be tolerated under “regularisation or condonment.”
Benjamin stated that the board distant itself from trending and strange admissions practice by some institutions, claiming to enrol candidates into “daily part-time” by some polytechnics and “Top- up” by some universities.
“It is crucial to clarify that no such programmes are approved by National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) or National Universities Commission (NUC),” he said.
Both programmes, Benjamin added, are alien to the education system in Nigeria and any attempt to enrol into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme with them would be flawed and futile.
He also reiterated the board’s decision that only candidates who were at least 16 years old at the time of admissions would be considered eligible for the 2024 admission cycle.
This decision, he explained, followed the directive from Prof. Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education and chairman of the 2024 tertiary admissions policy meeting, that the policy of 6-3-3-4 would be enforced from 2025.
“Only those below 16 years will not and should not be admitted in accordance with the decision of the 2024 Policy meeting,” Benjamin said.
