The federal government has directed that candidates who are less than 18 years old should not be offered admission into tertiary institutions.

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, gave the directive on Monday, April 22, during a monitoring exercise of the ongoing 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Bwari, Federal Capital Territory.

The minister said the 18-year benchmark is in line with the 6-3-3-4 education system.

He said: "The minimum age of entry into the university is 18, but we have seen students who are 15 or 16 years old going in for the entrance examination.

"Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards too much. Mostly, it is the pressure of parents that is causing this.

“We are going to look at this development because the candidates are too young to understand what the whole university education is all about.”