Starting from 2025, no candidate below the age of 18 years shall be allowed to sit for major secondary school examinations, including WAEC, West African Examinations Council, NECO, National Examinations Council, and JAMB, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board for admission into any university. This was made known by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, in an interview on Channels Television.
This decision is in line with a similar federal policy on age brackets for admission into standard examinations that the government is now implementing more strictly. Professor Mamman explained that the idea is to have school children develop and maturationally fit for higher education and finish their years of schooling at the right ages.
For years, we have been having this age guideline, but now we are making it known to parents and guardians. Professor Mamman said This year is a notice period. As from next year, JAMB would be presenting that candidate must reach the age of 18 before applying to any university in Nigeria.
PROFESSOR MAMMAN, enunciated that the pathways of students in early education up to tertiary enrollment were age-oriented with a planned university age of admission at 18 years: Early childhood five years; primary school six years; junior secondary three years; senior secondary three years, adding approximately 175 years of age upon graduation.
According to Professor Mamman, this is not a new policy but the need to enforce the minimum age of 18 years for the WAEC, NECO, and JAMB examinations. This simply means that henceforth, both WAEC and NECO will ensure that no underage student is allowed to take part in their various exams. This is to guarantee that candidates spend the necessary years at each stage of their education before proceeding further to the next level of education.
