JAMB reiterates age requirement for admission, cracks down on illegal practices

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reiterated its position that candidates below the age of 16 will not be admitted for the 2024/2025 academic session.

This follows up on the direction of the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who emphasized that only candidates aged 16 years and above are eligible to take the exam this year.

At a press conference held at its national headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, JAMB Public Communications Adviser, Fabian Benjamin, stated, “For the 2024 admission cycle, candidates who are at least 16 years of age at the time of admission will be considered eligible.”

He further explained that the decision was in line with the direction of Prof. Tahir Mamman at the 2024 National Policy Meeting which mandated the implementation of the 6-3-3-4 education policy starting in the 2025 session year.

Benjamin expressed concern about the increasing submission of fake affidavits and doctored documents, saying, “The alarming number of fake affidavits and the increasing number of doctored age adjustments on NIN slips submitted to JAMB to update the recorded age is dangerous, detrimental and unnecessary.”

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He added, “Only those under 16 years of age will not and should not be admitted according to the decision of the 2024 Policy Meeting.”

Additionally, Benjamin noted that JAMB will no longer accept new admissions under the “Illegal Admission Forgiveness” policy, which was previously used to legalize illegal admissions before 2017.

Benjamin criticized the misuse of this policy, which was introduced alongside the Centralized Admissions Processing System (CAPS) in 2017 to increase transparency and accuracy in admissions.

He said, “The Board’s stand is based on the discovery of widespread and unhealthy practices, where some institutions colluded with candidates to falsify important details.”

In response to this abuse, JAMB has instructed all institutions to disclose candidates illegally admitted before 2017 by August 2024, stressing that such admissions will no longer be recognized if not disclosed within this time frame.

The council also condemned illegitimate part-time programs, such as the Daily Part-Time (DPT) program recently advertised by Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic. Benjamin described these programs as fraudulent, stating, “These programs are fraudulent devices to bypass quality, approved quotas for full-time admission, falsify records and, as a result, generate illegitimate income.”

He urged institutions to remove misleading advertisements and warned candidates to avoid unrecognized programs. “Part-time programs are strictly regulated and should not be confused with full-time programs,” he said.

JAMB reiterates age requirement for admission, cracks down on illegal practices first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.