The Federal Government has approved a new minimum age of 16 years for admission into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, resolving a long-standing controversy over the 18-year requirement in the National Policy on Education.
Announcing the decision at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on July 8, 2025, Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, also warned institutions against illegal admissions outside JAMB’s Central Admission Processing System (CAPS). He emphasised that any such practices would no longer be tolerated.
The age-limit policy, which sparked public outcry when first proposed in 2024, was postponed after stakeholders raised concerns about retroactive implementation. The new decision reflects growing recognition that many students now complete secondary school earlier, some as young as 14. Despite this policy clarity, stakeholders remain alarmed at the declining state of education in the country. Critics point to low JAMB cut-off marks—set at 150 out of 400 this year—and crumbling infrastructure across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels as signs of systemic decay. “Garbage in, garbage out,” one commentator warned, urging the government to urgently declare a state of emergency in the education sector and invest significantly at all levels.
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