Giving Admission To Underage Students Is Illegal – Oloyede Warns

The Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has warned tertiary institutions in the country, particularly universities, against giving admission to underage students.

Speaking on Tuesday in Lagos at the opening of the seventh biennial conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities in Nigeria, Oloyede warned that such an act is illegal.

He also cautioned that apart from underage admission, all other forms of illegal admission must also be stopped.

Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Effective University Governance: Role of Stakeholders,” the JAMB Registrar said that for the sake of accountability, data protection and integrity of the nation, this act needed to stop because anything that was irregular was illegal.

He also recounted an experience involving a 15-year-old pupil who applied for a postgraduate course outside the country.

“About two months ago, I received a letter from an European country to confirm if a student actually graduated from a particular university because she is 15 years old and applied for postgraduate course.

“They question they asked me is “Is this possible in Nigeria.

“I had to call the Vice Chancellor of the institution and he confirmed the student graduated from the university but was not admitted by JAMB.

“He had to include that he was not the VC at the time the student was admitted,” Oloyede said.

Oloyede also warned against the illegal admission of diploma students.

“Also illegal admission of diploma students needs to stop because last year, we admitted 9,000 diploma students; I was alarmed that about 3,000 students came from a particular university.

“Everyone of us should be accountable because all these acts can damage our education system,” Oloyede said.