From Victoria Jigah, Abuja
The newly appointed Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has announced the reversal of the admission age benchmark for tertiary institutions in the country from 18 years to 16 years.
The Minister stated this at an inaugural press briefing after he assumed office in Abuja.He said the decision by the immediate past Minister of Education to benchmark the admissions age at 18 was the way the National Policy on Education was designed, stressing that the ministry will work with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB and other stakeholders on the new direction of admissions age.
Dr. Tunji said, opportunities will also be given to the gifted who may gain admission into Tertiary Institutions before attaining the new admission age.
”We will not be going forward with the 18-year admission benchmark. We will go with 16 years and we are going to meet with JAMB and others on that. There will also be exceptions for the gifted students,” he said.
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The Minister said the ban on some tertiary institutions certificates obtained from Benin Republic and Togo remain in place to help eliminate fake certificates from the system.
“The decision was an FEC decision and the committee that went around to ascertain those certificates did diligent work. The policy banning those certificates remains and nothing will change that. We do not want those who genuinely obtain their certificates to suffer for nothing,” he said.
He further said, the ministry will introduce nutritional programmes to support students’ health, thereby enhancing human capital development as well as collaborate with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to provide conditional cash transfers as incentives for students to increase school enrollment.
“These among others will encourage school enrollment at the basic education level and reduce out-of-school challenges,” he said
He said Universities of Agriculture in the country will be encouraged to own large farms to promote food security in the country.
He added that practicals and skills acquisition beginning from basic to tertiary education will also be a focal point of his stewardship in the ministry
“Eighty per cent (80%) of our education system will be practical based while theory will take 20%. And that is the right way to go,” he said.
