Why FG should revisit ‘below 16-year-old’ policy for tertiary institutions, by Mbamalu
The Founder of Meclones Group and Education expert, Ebenezer Mbamalu, has called for a review of the policy adopting 16 as the minimum age for tertiary institution admissions. The Joint
The Founder of Meclones Group and Education expert, Ebenezer Mbamalu, has called for a review of the policy adopting 16 as the minimum age for tertiary institution admissions.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)'s Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, affirmed last year that the national minimum admissible age remains 16. He added that any candidate below 16 years by September would not be considered for admission.
Mbamalu, during an interview with The Nation, described the policy as harsh, noting it could unfairly shut out students who are not at fault because they were admitted to school at an early age.
According to him, the policy could cause these students to wander around, while some others could become depressed, potentially leading to suicidal thoughts.
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He said, "This policy initiated last year was a very big concern to me as a school owner and a concerned parent, because you see some of these bright brains wandering around the street because the door was locked on them. I'm referring to the policy restricting students below the age of 16, that even if you take your JAMB, they say you must score 80%.
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"I'm very, very concerned. I wish they would reconsider this policy. Now, what is the way forward? What they want to do is right, but you can never achieve any result by doing the right thing the wrong way.
"The JAMB authority should carefully look into it again. Fine, even if they said, 'our decision is our decision,' they should find a way to work with the tertiary institutions to absorb these children instead of leaving them to wander around. Decisions like this are long-term decisions."
Mbamalu commended President Tinubu's administration for its sustained commitment to the Education sector.
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He applauded the student loans administered by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the renegotiated agreement between the Federal Government (FG) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which aims to stabilize the country’s university system, improve staff welfare, and address long-standing structural weaknesses.
Mbamalu said, "President Tinubu's administration has done excellently well. You talk about the student loan, you talk about the attention the lecturers, the professors are receiving, then honestly once can say that Tinubu's administration has done excellently well as far as these key areas are concerned.
"Anybody who is not giving this present regime credit for the laudable achievements in the Education sector is not being honest. They have done exceptionally well, more than previous administrations. The way they have managed the welfare of lecturers, and the way they have managed the issue of incessant strike action by ASUU, and the way they have disbursed the student loans, then one can only applaud the Education Minister, Tunji Alausa."
Speaking on the increased rate of out-of-school children in Nigeria, Mbamalu raised concerns, stressing that the future of Nigeria depends on sustained investment in children’s education.
He said, "The out-of-school situation remains a yet-to-be-resolved phenomenon that troubles the nation. It is troubling that children of tender age are unable to attend school. We still have so many out-of-school children, especially between the ages of seven and 18.
"We have them all over Nigeria, especially in northern Nigeria; most of them are not in school. There is a need to generate actionable recommendations to address the crisis in the sector."
Mbamalu emphasised that Nigeria’s future depends on the foundational classrooms it strengthens today.
