JAMB Updates Admission Policy, Gives Conditions to Varsities, Others On Admitting Under-16 Students

• JAMB has updated its admission policy, allowing tertiary institutions to admit students below 16, provided they turn 16 by August 2025
• This change, announced in a letter signed by Muhammed Babaji on behalf of JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede
• While the new policy allows younger candidates, JAMB emphasized that institutions still have the option to maintain their own minimum age requirements

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has updated its admission policy, allowing tertiary institutions across Nigeria to admit students who are below 16.

Part of the conditions laid out by the board is that provided the students turn 16 by August 2025.

This change was announced in a letter addressed to vice-chancellors, provosts, and rectors of various universities, polytechnics, and colleges across the country.

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The letter, signed by Muhammed Babaji on behalf of JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, outlines the board’s decision to offer flexibility in the admission age requirement for the 2024/2025 academic session, The Punch reported.

The statement read:

“Institutions can now admit candidates aged 15 provided they will be 16 by the 31st of August 2025.

“This decision aims to accommodate candidates who, due to age, would have been disqualified from admission but will meet the age requirement before the conclusion of the academic session.”

This revision comes after JAMB’s initial directive during its policy meeting earlier in the year, which required all candidates to be 16 years old by December 31, 2024, for the 2024/2025 session, Vanguard reported.

Institutions free to maintain minimum age

While the board has allowed institutions to admit younger candidates, it clarified that individual institutions have the freedom to maintain their minimum age requirements.

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The letter emphasized:

“Any institution that insists on its 16 years being within the year 2024 is completely free to do so.This effort is to ensure equity, as those whose 2024 admission lasts till August 2025 would not be unduly favoured.”

15-year-old student sues JAMB, others over admission policy

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that a 15-year-old student, Chinaemere Opara has sued the federal ministry of education, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and the National Universities Commission (NUC) over the federal government’s admission policy.

The teenager filed the suit through his father and a lawyer, Maxwell Opara, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, October 14.

Source: Legit.ng