NEWS REPORT - ALSA-NG Editorial Board

 

JAMB SETS 18 YEARS ADMISSION BENCHMARK INTO TERTIARY INSTITUTION

BY: Victoria Okeke and Prosper Job

On Thursday 18th July, 2024, during the 2024 Policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman reiterated the position of the government that only candidates who were 18 years and above were eligible for admission into tertiary institutions in the 2024 admissions and in subsequent years.

 

This position was first declared in April during a Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) monitoring exercise in Bwari, Abuja. During the monitoring exercise, the Minister said “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”.

 

Both during the initial pronouncement and the subsequent reiteration, this position has been objected to by the public. Most striking was the response of the members of the policy meeting of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) where upon the pronouncement of the new policy, the hall echoed “No no no.”

In a bid to restore normalcy to the uproared atmosphere following this proclamation, Mr Mamman explained that this was not a new position but the enforcement of an already existing law. He informed the participants that the Education Policy requires a person to be at least 18 years of age before securing admission into tertiary institutions, having attended six years of primary school, three years of junior secondary and three years of senior secondary.

According to the Minister, this mandate was made as a result of emerging issues in tertiary institutions, especially universities.

“I have also been informed about the surge in applications for immediate requests for a change of age to reflect higher age in anticipation of the imminent enforcement of the age policy. This again reflects dangerous games being played with the life and future of innocent children by those expected to nurture them. Flowing from this, JAMB is hereby instructed to admit only eligible students’ i.e those who have attained 18 years. Universities are advised to avoid recommending unqualified children for admission.” Mammud said.

 

Following the stakeholders’ persistent opposition to this, with parents/guardians agitating that their children/wards had already written the 2024 UTME exam, the Minister succumbed to the pressure and set the 2024 admission age at sixteen, while the policy will be enforced from 2025. While the Minister has been commended for allowing under-18 JAMB candidates to be admitted, this decision has been criticized for not having enough time to allow for readjustment to the new system and whether the policy is in the interest of the education sector. Some journalists report that the policy or rather statement of the Minister showcases the level at which hegemonic and tyrannical laws are being made by some charismatic leaders; banking on the premise that the Minister had failed to consult with the country's best psychologist and educationalist to implement such policies.

These journalists mention that there are some children who might not have attained the age of 18 but are intellectually and mentally capable of being in the University.

Going from the incessant allowance of the marriages of individuals who are about 16, 15 or even 14, conclusions are drawn that if these young ones are allowed to saddle the responsibility of marriage which is even more strenuous when compared to education, then they should be allowed at that age to enter into the University.

Also, they cite references from best practices in that since Germany, one of the world's fastest growing economies, allows for teenagers even at the age of 17 to work in a bakery and maintain status quo, Nigeria would be at the risk of educational downslide following the implementation of such retrogressive policy.

 

In 2006, the Federal Government introduced the 9-3-4 education system to replace the post-independence 6-3-3-4 system.

Experts have however, observed that the current system has seen the trend of parents pushing their children to finish their education at a very tender age. This is mostly effected from the primary schools where some children are made to skip the last two years of their primary education, thus leading to the admission of underage children into secondary schools which eventually translated the same in tertiary institutions.

It has also been reported that some parents go to the extent of ensuring that their children take their WASSCE while in SS2. This therefore leads to the fluctuation of universities by children of 14, 15 and 16 years, who ordinarily should still be in the care of their parents.

 

It is in the light of this situation that the government woke up to attempt an implementation of its long-dead policy. The Minister went further to remind the stakeholders the provisions of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act and other schooling policies. He noted that the law sets the age for admission into primary school at six and if that is achieved and all required school years spent, a student will be completing secondary school at age seventeen and half years which then marries with the age they are out to implement. He termed the activity of the government a reminder to people and not the creation of a new policy. He further discouraged parents from jumping their children through their period of education. He also stated that this will also be implemented through other examination bodies such as the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) by implementing the age at which students could take their examinations. In response to a question, Mr Mamman finally noted that there will be no sanction for failure to abide by this policy but that child will not be admitted.

 

Leaning towards the side of the government, the former commissioner for education of Kogi State, Mr Sylvester Onoja, although blamed the government for lack of implementation for a long while, saw the need for character development of children before being admitted into institutions of tertiary learning.

Similarly, the proprietor of Chief Field School, Joshua Oluwole voiced the importance of the 9-3-4 system in getting things rightly done. He advised parents to get their children engaged in skills before getting into higher institutions and discouraged age falsifications.

Mariam Magaji, the National deputy president of the Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria, gave her word of honor that the association is committed to assisting the government in providing quality education.

 

On the contrary, this sudden decision to implement a long-forgotten policy has attracted a lot more complaints and oppositions from Nigerians. The issues raised by different people are based on the idleness of the children that will arise during the time gap between completion of secondary schools and admission into tertiary institutions. This policy has also been termed retrogressive since in most cases, both parents are working and thus have to enroll their children in school at an early age, coupled with the current age, where technology could be made available to aid learning.

Commentators have also tracked the learning capacity of the current generation which is able to grasp things at earlier stages than previous generations, and so deem the policy a delay to the child’s education.

 

There have also been proposed solutions to the government to set the admission age at 16, when the children are mentally, physically, psychologically and emotionally suitable to be in tertiary institutions. The government was also advised to solve the issue from the ‘bottom’ as opposed to starting the implementation at the proposed stage.

 

It is now a common saying that youth are the leaders of tomorrow. However, without proper education, the youth are bound to fail. Education is such a sensitive sector in a nation that UNESCO has recommended 26% of a nation's budget be allocated to education.

Hence, policy makers, stakeholders, child psychologists and educational experts, all alike, are strongly advised to critically examine this matter to determine the next step in the educational sector of Nigeria.