ASHENEWS reports that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says that candidates for the 2024 admission cycle must be at least sixteen years old at the time of admission to be considered eligible.
This decision, according to JAMB, followed the directive from the Chairman of the 2024 Tertiary Admission Policy Meeting, who is also the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, that the extant education policy of 6-3-3-4 be enforced only from the 2025 admission session.
Speaking during a press conference on Sunday in Abuja, the JAMB spokesman, Dr Fabian Benjamin, decried 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.
Benjamin, who described the trend as dangerous, inimical and unnecessary directed that those below 16 would not and should not be admitted by the decision of the 2024 Policy Meeting.
The JAMB Spokesperson equally addressed the trend of Daily-Part-Time (DPT), an admissions practice he described as strange and concerning.
“The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) wishes to address the concerning trend of a strange admissions-practice labeled as “Daily-Part-Time” (DPT) by certain polytechnics and “Top Up” (TU) by some universities.
“A recent and particularly egregious example of this is the advertisement placed by Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa, in Oyo State, published in the Tribune on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, inviting candidates to apply for its two-year Daily Part Time (DPT) programme.
“It is crucial to clarify that no such programmes are approved by National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) nor by National Universities Commission (NUC).
“Both are also alien to the education system in Nigeria. They are fraudulent devices to side-line quality, approved quota for full time admission, falsify records and consequently, rake illegitimate income and derail the ambition and career of innocent (and some equally crooked) candidates.”
The boards spokesperson warned that part-time programmes are strictly regulated, allowing institutions to admit only up to 150% of the approved full-time capacity.
“However, some institutions have been found to admit an excessive number of candidates through this unrecognized DPT programme, merging them with full-time students in classrooms and purporting to graduate them at the same time with full time students.
“This practice undermines the integrity of our educational system under the guise of revenue generation.
“Part-time programs, by definition and regulation, are conducted on a part-time basis and are distinct from full-time programmes.
“Institutions, with such advertisement particularly Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, are hereby directed to retract this misleading advertisement immediately. Failure to comply will result in severe sanctions.
The board therefore urged all candidates to pursue education through legitimate and recognized educational pathways.
