JAMB sets criteria for under-16 candidates to write UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has introduced a special category for exceptionally gifted students under 16, allowing them to take the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) despite the general age requirement.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed this during an interview on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme on Channels Television.

He emphasized that while the minimum entry age for tertiary institutions remains 16, an “Exceptional Candidacy” category has been created for students who demonstrate outstanding academic abilities.

“We are enforcing the 16-year minimum entry into tertiary institutions, but there are rare cases of exceptional students. If you know you are exceptional, register for exceptional candidacy – meaning you are under 16 and academically outstanding,” Oloyede explained.

Expressing surprise at the high number of applications, he revealed that over 2,000 students, some as young as 10, 11, and 12, had already registered within days. However, he raised concerns about parents manipulating their children’s academic progression by altering their ages to fast-track their education.

“Normal children cannot grow beyond their biological age, but parents are now increasing their children’s ages using affidavits and other means,” he stated.

Oloyede criticized this trend, arguing that some parents prioritize personal prestige over their children’s natural development.

“They want to use their children to decorate their CVs, boasting, ‘My child graduated at 13, I am the mother of a lawyer,’” he remarked.