The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has granted permission to tertiary institutions to continue the admission process for candidates who are 16 years old until August 2025.
This was contained in a statement by its Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin on Thursday in Abuja.
He said the board explained that the decision was to ensure equity because of those institutions whose 2024 admission exercise would last till August 2025.
JAMB in the statement recalled that the issue of the minimum age for admission in the nation’s tertiary institutions was deliberated and decided at the 2024 Policy Meeting to be 16 years old for the 2024/25 academic session, while subsequently, the cut-off date was put on the 31st of December 2024.
According to the statement, “JAMB has taken cognisance that, due to different reasons, some institutions expect the 2024/2025 admission to run through July 2025.
“Without compromising the standard or infringing on the individual institution’s admission policy, the Board has now decided to allow any willing institution to admit candidates who will be 16 years old by the 31st of August 2025, as long as the standards set by the institution qualify such candidates but couldn’t be admitted only because of age.
“This is without prejudice to the decision of any institution that might have, on its own, decided on the minimum age of not less than 16 years, which remains sacrosanct.
“By this development, institutions are requested to harvest from their CAPS and send the list of candidates who would be 16 years of age between 1st of January and 31st of August 2025 who are eligible for admission (if any), not later than a week from the date on this letter to enable final decision.”
This development is coming after the Federal High Court in Abuja had been asked to set aside the alleged age barrier imposed by the Federal Ministry of Education, which restricts applicants below 18 years from exercising their right to association and self-determination regarding enrolling to write the West African Examinations Council or Joint Admissions Matriculation Board examinations.
The fundamental rights suit was filed by Maxwell Opara (on behalf of his son, Master Chinaemere), a lawyer, against the Ministry of Education, JAMB, and the National Universities Commission.
This request follows the declaration by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, that candidates under 18 will no longer be permitted to take the JAMB examination starting next year.
In the suit filed on Monday through Wayne Chikezie Elijah, Opara asked the court to declare that the age restriction for sitting for WAEC and/or JAMB examinations, as contemplated by the ministry, is unlawful and unenforceable, as it amounts to a gross violation of a child’s right to education.
In an affidavit supporting the application, Maxwell Opara stated that his son, Master Chinaemere, is an SS2 student at Sure Start Secondary School who is directly affected by the respondents’ Minimum Age for Admission Policy, which impedes his right to freedom from age discrimination and education, as enshrined in Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
