Stakeholders in the education sector have commended the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, for convening the board’s first national stakeholder engagement on the admission of underage students into universities. 

‎The meeting was organised by the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG) on behalf of the registrar on Tuesday in Abuja.

The event brought together 283 participants under the theme: “Achieving Success in Higher Education of Underage Students Admitted in the 2025/2026 Session.”

‎Participants included vice-chancellors, parents, education experts, child development specialists, legal practitioners and underage students.

‎Addressing newsmen at the end of the engagement, Prof. Emeritus Peter Okebukola, president of the Global University for Innovation (GUNi-Africa), described the initiative as unprecedented globally.

Mr ‎Okebukola said no higher education system had established a coordinated national support structure for underage students comparable to the one introduced by Mr Oloyede.

‎He disclosed that 96 students below the statutory admission age of 16 years were admitted to universities for the 2025/2026 academic session after passing a rigorous, multi-layered screening process.

‎According to him, the admission conditions approved by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2025 required candidates to score a minimum of 320 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), representing 80 per cent of the total.

‎He added that candidates were also required to obtain at least 80 per cent in the post-UTME examinations, the Senior School Certificate Examinations, and an independent expert assessment interview.

‎Mr Okebukola, who chairs JEOG, said the group viewed the underage students not as challenges but as exceptional young Nigerians representing both opportunity and national responsibility.

‎He disclosed that mentors had been individually assigned to each of the 96 students, adding that institutions, parents and counsellors all had indispensable roles in supporting their academic and emotional development.

‎“Our task is to ensure that precocity is met with wisdom, structure and genuine care for the young,” he said.

‎Mr Oloyede, in his remarks, said the government’s position on the age of admission was rooted in the 1981 National Policy on Education, which aligned educational progression with cognitive and emotional developmental stages.

‎He noted that the policy ordinarily places candidates for tertiary education admission at approximately 16 years of age, stressing that education was not only about academic exposure but also total learner development.

‎The registrar added that some institutions, including the University of Ibadan and the  Lagos State University, strictly uphold the minimum age requirement irrespective of academic brilliance.

He said, ‎“It is important to state clearly that the position of the government on age and admission did not emerge arbitrarily.

‎”As far back as the 1981 National Policy on Education, Nigeria, (Section 7, Sub Section 2) had already established a structured educational progression designed to align learning with stages of cognitive and emotional development.

‎”The policy envisages progression through basic and secondary education in a manner that ordinarily places candidates for tertiary education at approximately 16 years of age.

‎“This policy direction has remained substantially consistent over the years because educational progression is not merely about academic exposure, but about the total preparation of the learner for life and society.”‎

‎The engagement featured three technical sessions focusing on pedagogy for gifted learners, psychological support systems, and legal frameworks that guide child protection and education.

‎Experts discussed differentiated instruction, mentoring frameworks, counselling models, resilience-building strategies and provisions of Nigeria’s Child Rights Act.

(NAN)