THE Senate has stated that recent statements regarding the stipulated age and possible increase of the age limit for admission into the university in the country to18 years were and remained personal views of individuals.
The Senate stressed that any change to the age limit would require proper legislative procedures, whether they involve lowering or raising the limit, being a legislative matter.
Recall that last week, while monitoring the just-concluded Unite Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) at some centres in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, said government was considering changing the minimum age for entry into the universities from 16 to 18 years.
But Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Adeyemi Adaramodu, told journalists on Wednesday, May 1: “Comment on the minimum age requirement for admission is not a law. So it is just an opinion; it’s not a law.
“By the time the Senate resumes, whoever wants to bring that one out to make it a law will now bring it and then the procedures will take place.
You can bring whatever to the floor in form of a Bill.
“When you bring it, there’s going to be public hearing. All the stakeholders will sit down and talk about it- the parents, teachers, legislators, civil society organisations, even foreign organisations.
“Even if they say that the minimum age should be 30 or 12, we will all discuss it in an open forum. So, it’s still a comment, which cannot be taken to be the law.”
