New education minister retains 16 as entry age for tertiary institutions

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The newly appointed Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has announced that the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions will remain at 16 years.

He made this declaration during his inaugural briefing in Abuja on Tuesday when he was joined by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Suwaiba Ahmad, and the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Nasiru Sani-Gwarzo.

This decision reverses the previous policy set by former Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, which raised the admission age to 18 years starting from the 2025/2026 academic session.

“We will not be going forward with the 18-year admission benchmark. We will go with 16 years and we are going to meet with JAMB and others on that,” Dr. Alausa stated.

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He also noted that exceptions would be made for exceptionally gifted students, emphasizing that the 18-year minimum age policy would no longer be pursued.