18 years for entry into university – FG

The education minister on Monday stated clearly that admissions into tertiary institution in Nigeria now should be giving to only people who is up to 18 years old and above.

This is in line with the current 6334 education system. Therefore, discouraging students below the said age from gaining admission into the high institute.

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, gave the directive during a monitoring exercise of the ongoing 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Bwari, Federal Capital Territory.

“The minimum age of entry into the university is 18, but we have seen students who are 15 or 16 years old going in for the entrance examination.

“Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards too much. Mostly, it is the pressure of parents that is causing this.

“We are going to look at this development because the candidates are too young to understand what the whole university education is all about,” he said.He continues: “Overall, it is 20 per cent that can be admitted into the university, polytechnic, and colleges of education systems.So, where will the 80 per cent go? That is why the issue of skill acquisition is very important.

“Any student who is unable to proceed to tertiary institutions should be able to have a meaningful life after primary and secondary school education, and the only solution to this is skill acquisition,” he said.

Furthermore,  the Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, who was on the monitoring team, applauded the conduct of the 2024 UTME, particularly the introduction of online examinations to check malpractices.

He said the computer-based test (CBT) had reduced examination malpractices to the barest minimum.

Mr Sununu commended the board for setting a simple but high standard for the examination.

(NAN)