The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have set a cut-off mark for admissions into universities and other higher institutions in Nigeria. The examination body pegged the mark for universities at 140, while Polytechnics and Colleges of Education are set at 100. The cut-off point, officially known as The National Minimum Tolerable UTME Score (NTMUS), was agreed to on Thursday, at the 2024 annual policy meeting on admissions, which was held at the Body Benchers, Headquarters, Abuja.
The policy meeting was chaired by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, and decided following recommendations by the heads of institutions.
Registrar of JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, who announced the cutoff marks, explained that individual institutions were at liberty to raise their minimum benchmark approved at the policy meeting but could not go below what was approved for various institutions.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education has agreed to step down an earlier directive seeking to set the minimum age required to gain admission into tertiary institutions at 18. The directive was wildly unpopular and was protested by Vice-Chancellors led by the Vice Chancellor of Elizade University Professor Kayode Thadius Ijiadunola. “What happens to those who have written this year’s exams and passed their exams? We reject 18 years as the minimum age requirement and are proposing 16 years,” he said.
Responding, the JAMB registrar, Professor Oloyede said “The only point is they have taken examinations and at that time they were not told or aware and therefore if we want to enforce it, it should be from subsequent years.”
The minister of education in response had said, “I can work with that but I want to remind you of one thing, even that argument cannot stand if we want to go by the law which states 6-3-3-4 as our system of education.
“It won’t stand, but for practical reasons, for this year, I will allow it to stand.”
Reiterating the minister’s decision amidst a resounding applause, Prof Oloyede added, “We thank the minister for conceding but from next year we will enforce it.”
