The Senate has clarified that there has been no decision made to raise the minimum age requirement for applicants seeking admission to tertiary institutions in the country from 16 years to 18.
Senator Yemi Adaramodu, representing Ekiti Central and serving as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, made this declaration while addressing journalists in Abuja.
His statement comes in response to recent remarks by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who stated that the Federal Government intended to review and set the minimum entry age into tertiary institutions at 18 years.
Speaking in Abuja during the monitoring of the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Education Minister expressed concerns about the age of some applicants, emphasizing that students below 18 might struggle to grasp the essence of university education and manage themselves effectively.
However, Senator Adaramodu emphasized that the Education Minister’s remarks represented his personal opinion, and any decision to revise the age requirement would involve input from stakeholders in the education sector. He explained that a formal review would require the initiation of a bill, followed by a public hearing convened by the National Assembly.
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He clarified, “Comment on the minimum age requirement for admission is not a law. So it is just an opinion. It’s not a law. By the time the Senate resumes, whoever wants to bring that one out to make it a law, will now bring it and then the procedures will take place.”
Adaramodu further dismissed claims that the Minister of Education had instructed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) not to release results of applicants below 18 years. He emphasized that such directives were not part of the conditions when candidates purchased their forms and that any changes would require a legislative process.
He concluded by stating, “So, so far it is just a mere comment, it’s just an opinion. It is not law yet. So once something is not law, then there’s the level of jaw-jaw that we can do. It’s not.”
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