Category: Education

With the nation’s legal system failing to make specific provisions on the age limit for admission into higher education in the country, except the National Policy on Education, the recent pronouncement to increase the age to 18 years has not gone down well with many Nigerians. Even though the 18-year limit has been shifted to 2025, there is a need for the National Assembly to begin a legislative process that will either legalise the 18-year limit or leave it at 16, TONY AKOWE reports

The announcement by the Minister of Education, Prof. Mamman Tahir, that the minimum age for admission into tertiary institution in the country should be pegged at 18 years has continued to generate controversy across the country. While monitoring the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in April, the minister had decried the rate of underage entry into universities, saying there is a plan to review and peg the minimum entry age into tertiary institutions at 18 years.

The minister’s arguments

The minister said: “We noticed that the age of those who have applied to go to the university, some of them are really too young. We are going to look at it because they are too young to understand what a university education is all about. That’s the stage when students migrate from a controlled environment, where they are in charge of their own affairs. So, if they are too young, they won’t be able to manage properly. That accounts for some of the problems we are seeing in the universities. We are going to look at that. Eighteen years is the entry age for university, but you will see students who are 15 and 16 going to the examination. It is not good for us. Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards or children too much.”

Speaking at a Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) 2024 policy meeting, the minister again restated his earlier position for an increase in the age limit from 16 to 18, but was greeted by boos and jeers. But that has not stopped the announcement which is, however, yet to be built into the national policy on education. Rather than take off in the 2024 admission exercise, the only concession given by the minister is the commencement of the process during the 2025 admission.

2019 National Policy on Education and age limit

A study by The Nation revealed that the 2019 National Policy on Education pegs the minimum age for admission into tertiary institution at 16. The policy states that “candidates must be at least 16 years old by October of the admission year to be eligible for admission into a university. Candidates who are below 16 years old by October of the admission year will not be considered for admission”. This policy is to be enforced by JAMB, which is responsible for conducting entrance examinations for Nigerian universities, even though some universities may have additional requirements, which is higher, including being admitted to certain courses. It, however, makes provisions that candidates with exceptional abilities or talents may be considered for admission at a younger age.

In addition to the National Policy on Education, the JAMB Establishment Act (2018) empowers the board to set minimum admission standards, including age requirements. But the Federal Government’s policy on education, which emphasises access and equity, potentially conflicts with the age limit requirement. However, both the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education Board (NBTE) guidelines for university and polytechnic admission did not specify a minimum age limit for admission.

The lawmakers’ intervention

The Nation learnt that in 2021, the Senate said it would amend the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Establishment Act to limit the age of a candidate sitting for the UTME to 16 years and above. The argument then came when a 15-year-old boy was denied admission on the ground that he was underaged inspite of his exceptional performance in the UTME. The Senate said then that specifying the age limit would prevent underage students from participating in the examination, to gain admission into tertiary institutions.

Even though the 9th Senate is yet to amend the JAMB Establishment Act to provide for the age limit, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Senator Muntari Dandutse, supports the proposal by the minister. He, however, said that the Senate will come up with a robust legislation to support the new age limit. Dandutse said though age should not be a barrier to admission into tertiary institutions, the age limit of 18 years as proposed by the minister is sacrosanct. He said: “With what is happening, we are going to amend it and make it robust. Specifically, everybody should have access to education, your age, if is 40 or 50 or 60 years, doesn’t mean you cannot enter the university.

Also, Senator Sunday Karimi, who also threw his weight behind the new proposal by the minister, said: “Age should not be a barrier but you cannot be 12, 13, 14 years and enter into the university. Before you can enter primary school, you have to be six years. Before you can enter secondary school, you have to be 12 years. So, before you can enter the university, you have to be 18 years.”

The Nation tried to get the views of the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education Examination Bodies, Oboku Oforji (PDP, Bayelsa), but he failed to answer his call and did not respond to an SMS sent to his phone line at the time of filing this report.

ASUU, NASU support 18 years’ proppsal

But the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) supports the move by the minister and the JAMB to increase the minimum age requirement from 16 to 18 years. The union argued that the current minimum requirement is too low and can lead to underprepared students entering the university system. The union argued that students who enter university at 16 may not have the necessary emotional, social and academic maturity to handle the demands of university education. ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, described the proposition by the Federal Government as a welcome development. He was quoted as saying, “we are in full support. It is the right thing. What the minister said is the correct thing. The issue of age benchmark is not a new thing. It’s just that regulators have not been doing their work. In those days, you could not go to primary school, if you were not six years old. Then you spend six years and finish at age 12; and then  by the time you get to secondary school, you spend six years and then you graduate by 18.”

The union also believed that the policy of allowing the minimum age of 16 may lead to a decrease in academic standards and quality of education, adding that focus should be on improving the quality of secondary education rather than rushing students into university.

Also, the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) supports increasing the limit to 18. Its General Secretary, Comrade Peter Adeyemi, described 18 years as the age of maturity”, saying “to be a university student, you need some level of maturity and ability to understand life. I think 18 years is okay, if only they will adhere to it”.

More arguments

Some critics have argued that the 16-year age limit is too low for admission into tertiary institution in view of independent nature associated with such students. Those opposed to the need to increase the age limit have also argued that the age limit promotes access to education and should not be increased.

A former university lecturer and former Secretary of ASUU and current Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, believes that every society must make room for gifted children. Ihonvbere who headed the House Committee on Basic Education in the 9th House of Representatives told The Nation that while there is no definite legal system in place moderating when a child can enter the higher institution, the National Assembly may take a second look at existing laws as a way of addressing the confusion.

He said: “I think that every society must make allowance for gifted children, those who have unusual capacity to run through a system and produce results and abide by the rules to meet expectations. Those type of children should be allowed to thrive as a way of inspiring others. But I believe that once a child has gone through basic education and written the relevant examination and get admitted, he should be allowed to go on. I have no objection to that to students gaining admission at 16. I understand the issue of maturity and of being guided properly. However, it is the duty of the school to make arrangements for such exceptional children. It is just like you have slow learners where children of 12, 13, 15 ages cannot write their names. You don’t throw them out, but make special arrangements for them. So, we must make that kind of arrangement. They might just be the geniuses we are looking for in society to make the difference. So, you don’t discourage them”. Ihonvbare is also not against making regulations on the minimum age for entering into tertiary institution, but argued that such regulations must recognise excellence.

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He said: “For me, why there should be a regulation for minimum age for going into the higher institutions, there should also be an exception to say where there are proven cases of exceptional brilliance and performance following the rule as laid down, such children should be allowed.”

Asked whether there are existing laws guiding entry into tertiary institutions, he said: “There is a rule, which says you come in at a certain age,  spend a certain period of time and move to the next level. But it does not say specifically that a child must be at a certain age go into higher institution. Maybe, we should take a second look at it so that we can specify it and make some exceptions.  In those days, there were students who got double promotion. There were those who did so well that they jumped one class and did very well. My younger brother didn’t go through primary six. In primary five, he was so good that he wrote the common entrance examination, passed and went straight to secondary school. He did not have a primary six certificate today. He wrote his school certificate exams, did very well and went to the university and got a Master’s degree, branched into computer engineering and is doing very well. So, imagine such a child had been stunted. But we still need to take a look at the rules so that there will be no confusion.”

Solutions

Investigations  by The Nation revealed that presently, the age limit set by JAMB for those writing the UTME is 16 and being an examination body that conducts entrance examination for admission into tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education in Nigeria, it is expected that it provides the baseline for such age criteria.

Whatever the decision, it is a fact that there is need to review the National Policy on Education and the JAMB Establishment Act to consider raising the minimum age limit to 18 years after a stakeholders engagement that should agree on such increase. In doing this, there is the urgent need for JAMB, NUC, NBTE and other regulatory bodies to harmonise their guidelines to ensure consistency in admission requirements, while stakeholders should engage in dialogue to address concerns and find a balance between access and academic preparedness.

Aside opposing the plan by the ministry and JAMB to increase the age limit, stakeholders should begin to engage the regulatory bodies and the ministry towards finding a solution that balances access to education with academic preparedness.