Parents have been sternly warned by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to avoid registering minors for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
On Wednesday, March 13th of the year 2024, Ishaq Oloyede - who serves as Registrar for JAMB - responded to a lawsuit filed by Ifeanyi Eke. The issue in question was regarding allegations made by Eke claiming that the examination body had sent unsuitable text messages to her teenage daughter during registration proceedings.
Eke filed a lawsuit against JAMB and three others in the Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking N100 million in damages. Nonetheless, Oloyede stated that the purported sender of the messages was not an employee of JAMB but rather a fellow student.
According to Oloyede, "the person involved is not associated with our staff or examination center. He's just a university undergraduate who happens to be a candidate. Additionally, no one outside our organization has permission to access our data. The sender must have retrieved the information from the underage girl's phone."
Stressing the significance of following regulations, he raised doubts on whether a 15-year-old possesses adequate readiness for tertiary education. As per prevailing norms, it is mandatory for a youngster to complete six years in elementary school and another six years in high school before being eligible for university admission, which amounts to attaining an age of at least 18 years.
Oloyede clarified that if the process is expedited and three years are reduced, it suggests that there were some compromises made in preparing a 15-year-old for higher education.
Oloyede confirmed that JAMB would handle the lawsuit in court, and it will be up to the court's discretion if Eke is entitled to receive N100 million as settlement for their claim.