The Senate has clarified that the minimum age requirement for admission into tertiary institutions remains 16 years, dismissing speculation of a review to 18 years.
Senate Spokesman, Adeyemi Adaramodu, stated that any change to existing laws must undergo the legislative process to be valid, News About Nigeria reports.
He said the comments attributing the new minimum age to a Senator are merely personal opinions and not law.
Last week, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, proposed reviewing the admission requirement age from 16 to 18 years, citing concerns about students’ maturity levels.
Mamman said, “The other thing which we notice is the age of those who have applied to go to the university.
“Some of them are really too young. We are going to look at it because they are too young to understand what a university education is all about.
“That’s the stage when students migrate from a controlled environment where they are in charge of their own affairs. So if they are too young, they won’t be able to manage properly. That accounts for some of the problems we are seeing in the universities.
“We are going to look at that. Eighteen is the entry age for university but you will see students, 15, and 16, going to the examination. It is not good for us. Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards, or children too much,” he had said.
The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund expressed support for the move.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Muntari Dandutse, spoke when he led other members of the committee as well as its House of Representatives counterpart on monitoring the ongoing UTME in some examination centres.
However, Adaramodu clarified that the Senate has not received any bill or proposal to change the minimum age requirement.
He denied speculation that the Minister instructed JAMB not to release results for applicants below 18 years, stating that conditions cannot be changed mid-process.
The Senate spokesman stressed that any changes must undergo public hearings, stakeholder discussions, and the legislative process before becoming law. Until then, the minimum age requirement remains 16 years.
He said, “This is a country, this is Nigeria. So all of us will sit down and deliberate.
“So, so far it is just a mere comment, it’s just an opinion. It is not law yet. So once something is not law, then there’s the level of jaw jaw that we can do. It’s not.”
