The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Tuesday warned universities against admitting underage students into tertiary institutions in the country, News About Nigeria reports.
The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who spoke for the exam body, also warned universities against offering illegal admission to students.
He noted that such illegal admission will always necessitate ‘regularisation’ after admission has been offered, which is illegal.
Oloyede explained that JAMB regularisation is a process overseen by JAMB in Nigeria to validate and formalise the admission of students who were admitted into tertiary institutions without proper documentation or through informal means.
He added that the issue of regularisation had denied most candidates the opportunity to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the past.
Speaking at the opening of the seventh biennial conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities in Nigeria, Oloyede said, “I want to discuss what I call illegal admission. Many Vice-Chancellors don’t like the word, the truth is that no need to regularise what is regular. Calling for regularisation after admission is illegal. Some candidates can’t go for NYSC because they were not properly admitted.
“About two months ago, I received a letter from a European country to confirm if a student graduated from a particular university because she is 15 years old and applied for a postgraduate programme. The question they asked me was ‘Is this possible in Nigeria?’ Also illegal admission of diploma students needs to stop because last year, we admitted 9,000 diploma students; I was alarmed that about 3,000 students came from a particular university. Every one of us should be accountable because all these acts can damage our education system.”
