Newsbreak: FG stops 18-year admission limit for University, Polytechnic

By Ologeh Joseph Chibu

The Federal Government has reversed the policy stopping students below 18 years to enter the University or Polytechnic.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, told journalists on Tuesday that the policy had been reversed.

From now on, students not necessarily 18-year old can be admitted for higher education.

The Minister spoke at his inaugural press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said what led to that earlier decision was the way the National Policy on Education was conceived.

For months, Nigerians have been debating the rationale of the Federal Government stopping children less than 18 from gaining admission into Universities and Polytechnics.

The policy would have negatively affected no fewer than 5 million students disrupting or delaying their plans for the future.

The Minister said “We will not be going forward with the 18-years admission benchmark. We will go with 16 years and we are going to meet with JAMB and others on that.

He spoke further that there will also be an exception for the gifted students adding that 18-years limit is not part of the policy again.

Also speaking on the withdrawal of certificates obtained from Benin Republic and Togo, Alausa said the policy would remain in place to help address the challenge of fake certificates.