The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced that 16 -year admission benchmark into tertiary institutions remains.
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Alausa spoke at his inaugural briefing in Abuja on Tuesday with the Minister of State for Education, Dr Suwaiba Ahmad and Permanent Secretary, Dr Nasiru Sani-Gwarzo.
The Minister’s pronouncement reversed the decision of the past Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman who pegged the 18-year admission benchmark into tertiary institutions.
Prof. Mamman announced it during the 2024 Policy Meeting on admissions organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The decision did not go down well with stakeholders with Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts and other heads of tertiary institutions resisting it vehemently.
However, sensing the mood of stakeholders at the meeting, the former Minister backtracked on implementing the age limit for the 2024 admission, insisting the 18-year age limit would take effect from the 2025 admission.
However, Dr. Alausa maintained that there would be no reversal of the federal government’s earlier decision to void over 22,700 degree certificates obtained by Nigerians from allegedly “fake” universities in neighboring Togo and Benin Republic.
But Alausa said what led to that initial decision was the way the National Policy on Education was designed.
The Minister added that the 18-year was not “part of our policy again.”
The Minister however said the ban on certificates obtained from Benin Republic and Togo, Alausa would remain in place to help eliminate fake certificates from the system.
He said: “We will not be going forward with the 18-year admission benchmark. We will go with 16 years and we are going to meet with JAMB and others on that.
“There will also be exceptions for the gifted students. 18-year is not part of our policy again.”
He added: “Part of special needs are highly talented and gifted students. We need to create opportunities for them. We have to let them excel. These are geniuses in our society. They are the Innovators of what we need. They are genetically endowed to move our general society.”
On the out-of-school children issue, he noted this as a key priority for the ministry, adding that various solutions would be considered to reduce the number.
He said the ministry will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to provide conditional cash transfers as incentives for students to increase school enrollment.
He also mentioned that nutritional programmes would be introduced to support students’ health, thereby enhancing human capital development.
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