The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman has reversed his decision on the admission of candidates under the ages of 18 into tertiary institutions.

The minister changed the age limit to 16, after protests from stakeholders at the ongoing policy meeting organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.

Mamman directed heads of tertiary institutions to admit candidates who are 16 years old, allowing them to gain admission into the tertiary institutions of their choice.

The minister conceded after the argument that students under the age of 18 had already registered, sat and passed the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and were awaiting admission.

Vice Chancellor of Elizade University, Prof. Kayode Thadius Ijiadunola, led the motion of admitting 16-year-olds as the minimum age requirement for admission into universities and other institutions.

He also received massive support from other heads, registrars and admission officers participating in the policy meeting.

He said, “What happens to those who have written this year’s exams and passed their exams? We reject 18 years as the minimum age requirement and are proposing 16 years.”

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, questioned parents and candidates on their rush into tertiary education.

Oloyede said: “The only point is they have taken examinations and at that time they were not told or aware and therefore if we want to enforce it, it should be from subsequent years.”

In response, the minister said, “I can work with that but I want to remind you of one thing. Even that argument cannot stand if we want to abide by the law which states 6-3-3-4 as our system of education. It won’t stand but for practical reasons, for this year, I will allow it to stand.”

Prof Oloyede commended the minister and said, “We thank the minister for conceding but from next year we will enforce it.”