The Federal Government has refuted media reports suggesting that it has raised the minimum age for admission into Junior Secondary School 1 (JSS1) to 12 years, describing the claims as both misleading and inaccurate.
In an official statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Education, Boriowo Folasade, the Ministry clarified that the minimum age for admission into JSS1 remains 10 years. The statement emphasized that no child should complete primary school before the age of 10, and any report suggesting otherwise should be disregarded by the public and education stakeholders.
Boriowo further stated that the erroneous report, which did not originate from any official government source, does not represent the position or policy of the Federal Ministry of Education.
Reaffirming the age requirement for higher education, she noted that the minimum age for admission into Nigerian universities remains 16 years, as earlier stated by the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa. This policy, she said, is non-negotiable and applies uniformly across the board, regardless of how early a student may have completed secondary education.
The Ministry emphasized that the age benchmark is in place to ensure that students possess the necessary cognitive and emotional maturity for their academic journey, whether at the secondary or tertiary level.
It also urged the public, educational institutions, and media outlets to seek and verify information through official channels before disseminating or acting on it, in order to prevent the spread of misinformation.
