The Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, has sounded a stern warning over what he described as the “unintended exclusion” caused by Nigeria’s rigid tertiary admission system, stressing that the nation’s strict entry criteria are pushing millions of adolescents out of school each year.
Speaking at the public presentation of the newly revised National Guidelines for the Minimum Admission Requirements into Tertiary Institutions in Abuja, Dr. Alausa said the country’s current admission framework has become a barrier to access, thereby increasing the number of idle, out-of-school young people nationwide.
According to the Minister, statistics show that while over two million candidates sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) annually, only about 700,000 successfully gain admission into universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. The remainder — over a million young Nigerians — are left stranded, often without any viable educational or vocational pathway.
“The rigid admission requirements have become exclusionary. Many adolescents who could have been in classrooms are left on the streets because of technicalities in subject combinations and credit passes. This trend is a serious social risk we must urgently correct,” Alausa stated.
Revised Guidelines to Ease Admission Barriers
In response to these concerns, the Federal Ministry of Education has introduced a series of reforms to ease entry into tertiary institutions and align admission practices with global inclusivity standards.
The new measures include:
| Revised Admission Policies | Previous Requirement | New Change Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory Mathematics for Arts-related courses | Mandatory | Now optional for Arts and Humanities |
| Compulsory English for Science-related courses | Mandatory | Now optional for pure Science programmes |
| Minimum O’Level credit passes for Colleges of Education and Polytechnics | Five credits | Reduced to four credits to widen access |
Dr. Alausa emphasized that while English and Mathematics remain mandatory subjects to sit for, they will no longer automatically disqualify candidates who perform well in their main disciplines but lack credit passes in one of the two, depending on the programme of study.
Mathematicians Raise Concerns
The reforms, however, have sparked mixed reactions among education stakeholders. The Nigerian Mathematical Society (NMS) expressed strong reservations about the decision to make Mathematics optional for certain disciplines, warning that the policy could weaken analytical thinking and undermine employability in a technology-driven global economy.
The Society argued that removing Mathematics from admission prerequisites may erode students’ problem-solving capabilities and create inconsistencies in the education policy framework.
Balancing Access and Standards
Despite the controversy, the Education Minister maintained that the reforms are necessary to address structural bottlenecks that exclude millions of potential students. He noted that the goal is not to lower academic standards but to promote inclusivity, broaden career pathways, and modernize the nation’s tertiary entry system.
“We must balance standards with accessibility. No nation can afford to leave millions of young people outside the classroom simply because the system is too rigid to accommodate their potential,” Dr. Alausa reiterated.
Broader Implications
The development comes amid growing national concern over Nigeria’s rising number of out-of-school adolescents — a figure that has direct implications for unemployment, insecurity, and national development.
Education experts say while the new policy could help more students gain access, effective implementation and institutional support will determine whether the reform leads to real inclusion or merely shifts the problem to quality and capacity challenges in tertiary education.
Conclusion
As Nigeria moves to open its tertiary system to more young citizens, questions remain about the sustainability and long-term effects of these relaxed admission criteria. Will the reforms truly reduce the out-of-school population, or will they test the resilience of the nation’s educational standards?
One thing is clear: the conversation around access versus quality in Nigerian education has only just begun — and the outcome will shape the nation’s academic future for years to come.
