News
JAMB Introduces Special UTME For Gifted Students Under 16
- JAMB now allows exceptional students under 16 to register for UTME.
- Over 2,000 candidates, some as young as 10, have already applied.
- Oloyede warns parents against falsifying ages to accelerate academic progression.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has introduced a special category for exceptionally gifted students under the age of 16, allowing them to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) despite the general age restriction.
EDITOR’S PICKS
- 45% of Nigerian Girls Become Mothers Before 18 — World Bank
- ECOWAS Faces Historic Defection as Three West African Nations Withdraw
- Netanyahu to Meet Trump at White House Next Week
EKO HOT BLOG reports that JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, made this announcement during an interview on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political program on Channels Television. He emphasized that while 16 remains the minimum age for university admission, academically outstanding students below this age can now apply under the “Exceptional Candidacy” category.
“We are enforcing the 16-year minimum entry into tertiary institutions, but some people argue there are exceptional students. Yes, they exist, but they are rare—about one in a million,” Oloyede said.
He revealed that the new category had already attracted significant interest, with over 2,000 applicants registering in just a few days. Many of these candidates are as young as 10, 11, and 12, raising concerns about parents manipulating their children’s academic progression by falsifying their ages.
“Some parents are finding ways to push their children beyond their natural learning pace, using affidavits and other means to change their ages,” he stated.
JAMB Special UTME
Oloyede also criticized the growing trend of parents using their children’s early academic success as a status symbol. “Parents want to decorate their CVs by boasting about their child graduating at 13. This is unhealthy for the child’s natural development,” he added.
FURTHER READING
- [VIDEO] Commotion Rocks PDP BoT Meeting as Faction Confront Each Other
- NiDCOM Prepares for Deportation of Nigerians from U.S
- BREAKING: Sowore Pleads Not Guilty to Cybercrime Charges Filed by Police IG
Click here to watch video of the Week
Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:
Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.
Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.
Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611
