Only candidates who are 18 years and above will be offered admission into tertiary institutions, if the Federal Government has its way.
During a monitoring exercise of the ongoing 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Bwari, Federal Capital Territory on Monday, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman decried the activities of some parent, who were pressuring their underage students to get admissions into tertiary institutions,
He said that the 18-year benchmark is in line with the 6-3-3-4 system of education.
“The minimum age of entry into the university is 18, but we have seen students who are 15, 16 years 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.
“This is the period when children migrate from controlled to uncontrolled environment; when they are in charge of their own affairs.
“But, if they are too young, they won’t be able to manage properly. I think that is part of what we are seeing in the Universities today”, the Minister said.
On skill acquisition for those who will not be able to gain admissions into tertiary institutions, Mamman said the ministry is taking skills to pupils from primary school.
“In overall, it is 20 per cent that can be admitted into the University, Polytechnic and Colleges of Education system.
“So, where will the 80 per cent go to? That is why the issue of skills 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’s education and the only solution to this is skill acquisition”, Mamman said.
Spokesman of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Dr Fabian Benjamin said that 18 years is the is in line with the 6-3-3-4 education system.
The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, who was in the monitoring team, applauded the conduct of the 2024 UTME, particularly, the introduction of online examinations as a way of checking malpractices.
He said the Computer Based Test had reduced examination malpractices to the barest minimum.
Sununu commended the Board for setting simple but high standard for the examination.
