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JAMB reaffirms age requirement for admission, cracks down on illegal practices
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reiterated its stance that candidates under the age of 16 will not be admitted for the 2024/2025 academic session.
This follows a directive from the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, emphasizing that only candidates 16 years and older are eligible for admission this year.
At a press conference held at its national headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, stated, “For the 2024 admission cycle, candidates who will be at least 16 years old at the time of admission will be considered eligible.”
He further explained that the decision aligns with Prof. Tahir Mamman’s directive during the 2024 National Policy Meeting, which mandates the enforcement of the 6-3-3-4 education policy starting from the 2025 session.
Benjamin expressed concerns about the rising submission of falsified affidavits and doctored documents, saying, “The alarming avalanche of obviously false affidavits and upsurge of doctored upward age-adjustments on NIN slips being submitted to JAMB to upgrade recorded age is dangerous, inimical and unnecessary.”
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He added, “Only those below 16 would not and should not be admitted in accordance with the decision of the 2024 Policy Meeting.”
Additionally, Benjamin noted that JAMB will no longer accept admissions under the “Condonement of Illegal Admissions” policy, which had been used to regularize pre-2017 unofficial admissions.
Benjamin criticized the abuse of this policy, which was introduced alongside the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) in 2017 to enhance transparency and accuracy in admissions.
He stated, “The Board’s position is informed by the discovery of widespread and unwholesome practice whereby some institutions were colluding with candidates to falsify vital details.”
In response to these abuses, JAMB has instructed all institutions to disclose any illegally admitted candidates from before 2017 by August 2024, emphasizing that such admissions will no longer be recognized if not disclosed within this timeframe.
The Board also denounced unauthorized part-time programs, such as the Daily Part-Time (DPT) program recently advertised by Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic. Benjamin described these programs as fraudulent, stating, “They are fraudulent devices to side-line quality, approved quota for full-time admission, falsify records, and consequently, rake illegitimate income.”
He urged institutions to retract 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.
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