Senator Dandutse endorsed the Minister of Education’s proposal to raise the minimum admission age to 18.
By Otite Simon
The Nigerian Senate is planning to introduce legislation establishing 18 years as the minimum age for university and tertiary institution admission in the country.
Senator Muntari Dandutse, chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, revealed this information after observing the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Abuja alongside the House of Representatives’ counterpart.
Senator Dandutse endorsed the Minister of Education’s proposal to raise the minimum admission age to 18, emphasizing its importance in preventing minors from entering university.
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He commended the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for its management of the UTME and praised President Bola Tinubu for implementing a student loan program, which he believes will enhance access to higher education.
Additionally, Senator Sunday Karimi, a committee member, emphasized that increasing educational opportunities should not conflict with setting the minimum admission age at 18.
“Everybody should have access to education. Just because you are 40 or 50 doesn’t mean you cannot enter university; it is not a barrier, but there is also a minimum. You cannot be 12, you cannot be 13, you cannot be 14 and enter university,” he said.
He continued: “What the minister said yesterday is that you have to be 18, and we are not against that because before you can enter primary school, you have to be 6, and before you enter secondary school, you have to be 12, so before you enter university, you have to be 18.”
“On a law to make 18 years the mandatory age for entry into higher education institutions in the country. The law is already there, but if it means to even take it and amend it to make sure we have a robust law, we are going to do that.”
SaharaReporters also covered how the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) expressed complete backing for the new entry age policy. ASUU President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke conveyed this endorsement, describing the government’s consideration as a positive step forward.
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