Education
Only Candidates 16 years at time of admission will be considered eligible – JAMB insists

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has raised the alarm over a concerning increase in doctored and upwardly adjusted age declarations on NIN slips submitted by university admission candidates. This trend, primarily involving underage candidates falsifying their age, has been deemed dangerous and unnecessary by the exam body.
JAMB has now mandated that only candidates who are at least sixteen years old at the time of admission will be eligible for university entry. The directive, issued by the Chairman of the 2024 tertiary admission policy meeting and Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, will be enforced starting from the 2025 academic session under the extant 6-3-3-4 education system.
In a statement, JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin highlighted the widespread and unethical practice where some institutions collude with candidates to falsify crucial details, such as backdating the year of entry and adjusting ages. This manipulation often involves using certificates from genuine candidates with similar names to facilitate illegal admissions and enable participation in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
JAMB’s new age restriction aims to curb these fraudulent activities and ensure a fair and transparent admission process for all candidates.