The Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) says candidates who will be aged 16 by August 2025 can be admitted to tertiary institutions.

In July, the education ministry introduced a policy adopting 18 as the minimum age for tertiary institution admissions.

It said the policy, which is to take effect in 2025, will ensure candidates are mature enough to deal with the rigours of tertiary education.

It further said candidates who do not spend the required years in primary and secondary school would not be allowed to write the SSCE.

The age policy has been critiqued, with stakeholders concerned that exceptional students could be unduly shut out of tertiary education.

JAMB had said it would admit candidates who are as young as 16 for the 2024 season while the age 18 requirement takes effect in 2025.

But in a statement on Thursday, JAMB said it learned that some institutions expect 2024/2025 admissions to run through to July 2025.

In another exception, the board said it has now agreed that candidates who will be turning 16 by August 2025 can be admitted.

The examination body instructed tertiary institutions to document their candidates who fit into this category.

“The board has taken cognizance that, due to different reasons, some institutions expect the 2024/2025 admission to run through July 2025,” the board said.

“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.

“This is so long as the standards set by the institution qualify such candidates but couldn’t be admitted only because of age.

“You are requested to harvest from your 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 effort is to ensure equity because those whose 2024 admission would last till August 2025 would not be unduly favoured.”

Students at the College of Health Sciences and Technology in Jega, Kebbi state have set the residence of the institution’s provost on fire in a riot.

Nafiu Abubakar, the Kebbi state police PRO, confirmed the incident to TheCable on Thursday.

He said the riot, which has now been quelled, broke out at around noon.

Abubakar said a police investigation is still looking to determine what caused the unrest.

However, multiple reports claim protests had erupted on the campus over allegations that the college management extorted funds from students to the tune of N23 million.

The funds, the reports claim, were meant to cover registration fees for 250 graduating students.

It is understood that the residence of Haruna Saidu-Sauwa, the provost, was set ablaze and his vehicle was vandalised.

One report claims the controversy originated from a newly introduced public health programme.

The college, the report said, merged the programme with the college’s environmental health department to secure certification.

This reportedly led to a demand for an additional N65,000 from each student for index registration in addition to N30,000 already paid.

Accusing the management of extortion, the students responded violently by stoning vehicles and setting the provost’s residence on fire.

College staff, campus sources said, fled the scene in fear before security personnel arrived.

As of this report, the institution’s management has yet to address the public on the matter.

A 15-year-old student has sued the education ministry, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and the National Universities Commission (NUC) over Nigeria’s tertiary institution admission age policy.

The senior secondary student, Chinaemere Opara, filed the suit at the federal high court in Abuja through his lawyer father Maxwell Opara.

In the originating motion marked “FHC/ABJ/CS/1512/2024”, dated September 30, and filed October 14 by Wayne Elijah, the SS2 student listed the ministry, JAMB, and NUC as first to third respondents respectively.

In July, the education ministry introduced a policy adopting 18 as the minimum age for tertiary institution admissions.

It said the policy, which is to take effect in 2025, will ensure candidates are mature enough to deal with the rigours of tertiary education.

It further said candidates who do not spend the required years in primary and secondary school would not be allowed to write the SSCE.

The age policy has been critiqued, with stakeholders concerned that exceptional students could be unduly shut out of tertiary education.

In his six reliefs, Opara sought a declaration that the admission age policy was “discriminatory and unconstitutional”.

He said it amounted to a gross violation of his right to freedom of expression as guaranteed under Sections 42 of the 1999 Constitution, 2011 (as amended) and Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 13(2), 17 and 28 of the African Charter on Human and People Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap A9 Vol. 1 LFN.

He urged the court to declare that his right to peaceful assembly and association cannot be limited by the respondents’ admission policy.

He also sought a declaration that the policy which restricts his age as to when to enrol to write the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and JAMB exams infringed on his right to equal access to public service.

This, he said, is guaranteed under Article 13(2) and (3) of the African Charter on Human and People Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap A9 Vol. 1 LFN.

Opara sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from attempting to disturb, breach, or interfere with his rights.

He equally sought an order setting aside the policy.

In the affidavit deposed to by Maxwell, he said he is the biological father of Chinaemere.

He said Chinaemere is an SS2 student of Sure Start Secondary School who is directly affected by the respondents’ minimum age for admission policy.

He said the policy had impeded Chinaemere’s right to freedom from age discrimination and education as enshrined in the law.

“The applicant believes that his right to education has been or is likely to be violated,” he said.

“The applicant would enter SS 3 in this 2024/2025 academic session with his plan/arrangements of writing his WAEC, NECO AND JAMB in 2025 with his expectations of gaining admission in 2025/2026 university academic sessions.

“The applicant wants to study medicine & surgery whose duration is six years along with a mandatory one-year youth service and one-year compulsory medical externship totalling all eight years.”

The suit is yet to be assigned to a judge at the time of filing the report.