Members of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) on Tuesday declared their support for the move by the Federal Government to peg the minimum entry age into tertiary institutions in the country at 18 years.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Senator Muntari Dandutse, spoke when he led other members of the committee as well as its House of Representatives counterpart on monitoring the ongoing UTME in some examination centres as the lawmakers’ oversight function.
Dandutse said the Senate would support every effort by the government to streamline admission processes, especially the area of minimum age qualification for entry into tertiary institutions in the country.
Earlier, while addressing the UTME candidates waiting to take the examination at Government Secondary School Tudu Wada, Abuja, the Senator representing Katsina South Senatorial District, Katsina State, cautioned the candidates against involving in examination malpractice that could mar their future.
He informed them that they were lucky that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had put in place a Student Loan Scheme which would provide succour to them in getting admission to institutions of their choice.
Speaking with journalists after the exercise, the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District and member of the committee, Sen. Sunday Karimi, said the Senate has nothing against the proposal by the Minister of Education.
According to him, by restricting admission to students at least 12 years old before secondary, the government aims to ensure that students possess the cognitive and emotional readiness necessary to navigate the challenges of secondary education effectively.
“By the time a student who entered into secondary school at the age of 12 years completes his secondary school programme, he is already at the age of 18 as stipulated.
According to him, “the law was already on the ground backing that however if there is a need for any amendment to make it stronger, we are ready to do that.”
He commended JAMB for the smooth conduct of the 2024 UTME and for providing an enabling atmosphere for candidates to have a seamless exercise.
Recall that the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman had on Monday said the government is considering review and pegging of the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions at years.
The Minister who gave the hint while monitoring the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Abuja, advised parents against pushing their children and wards “too much,” to allow them to attain some level of maturity to be able to better manage their affairs.
According to him, “The other thing which we notice is the age of those who have applied to go to the university. Some of them are really too young. We are going to look at it because they are too young to understand what a university education is all about.
“That’s the stage when students migrate from a controlled environment where they are in charge of their own affairs. So if they are too young, they won’t be able to manage properly. That accounts for some of the problems we are seeing in the universities.
“We are going to look at that. 18 is the entry age for university but you will see students, 15, and 16, going to the examination. It is not good for us. Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards, or children too much.”
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