Father arrested for helping son to sit UTME 

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the arrest of a man and his son in the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME).

The man was accused of impersonating the son and helping him to sit the UTME.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed this while on inspection tour of the UTME centres in Kaduna on Wednesday.

He said the 2024 examinations were largely well conducted, except for few cases of impersonation, which became possible because some persons had multiple National Identity Numbers (NINs).

Oloyede warned against cheating in the exams, stressing that JAMB had improved its technology check on those engaging in all forms of examination malpractices.

The JAMB Registrar said, “For those who engage in cheating, they should know that it does not pay. The technology is helping us to check that.

“Across the country, most of the problem we have is impersonation. For instance now, we say we have NIN, we now have cases of people with two NINs.

Therefore, that has defeated the purpose of identity verification. We are going to take that up with NIMC, that there are people who have two NINs.

“We have a case of a father impersonating his son, sitting the examination for the son and I wonder. Are you not destroying your son’s future?

“Of course, two of them are now in custody. I can’t understand what the father will now tell his son when they are both locked up in the same cell. This happened definitely not in Kaduna, but I don’t want to disclose the state.”

Senate backs education minister on 18-year entry age into varsities

Members of Nigeria’s Senate endorsed the federal government’s decision to raise the minimum admission age to 18 years old.

Recall that the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, said on Monday that the entry age for higher institutions was 18 years old and cautioned parents not to force their children who are not yet of age to enroll.

The support was made public on Tuesday in Abuja when the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Sen Muntari Dandutse, led other members of the committee as well as his House of Representatives counterpart to witness the ongoing UTME.

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Speaking with journalists after the exercise , the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District and member of committee, Sen Sunday Karimi, said the Senate has nothing against the proposal by the Minister of Education.

He noted that by restricting admission to students at least 12 years old before secondary school, the government aims to ensure that students possess the cognitive and emotional readiness necessary to navigate the challenges of secondary education effectively.

“By the time a student who entered into secondary school at the age of 12 years completes his secondary school programme, he is already at the age of 18 as stipulated,” he added.

Karimi also stated the law was already on the ground, adding that if that was needed for any amendment to make it stronger, the Senate will be ready to do that.

He commended JAMB for providing an enabling atmosphere for candidates to have a seamless exercise.

Senate backs education minister on 18-year entry age into varsities

Abuja British school shut over student bullying viral video

Abuja-based Lead British International School has been shut down for three days after a viral video showing an incident of bullying in the school.

This was announced on Tuesday during a press briefing attended by concerned parents on the school premises.

The viral video, which  captured a female student being subjected to physical and emotional abuse by her peers, had sparked public outrage.

The footage depicted the victim being repeatedly slapped by another female student in an interrogation session.

The incident prompted widespread condemnation and calls for swift action to address the issue.

Head of Lead British International School, Abraham Ogunkambi, issued a statement on Tuesday, in response to the incident.

He stressed the school’s disapproval of the incident, adding that an investigation into the matter had commenced.

“The school management is treating this matter with the utmost seriousness,” Ogunkambi said.

He added that the school had already been in contact with the victim and her parents, offering support and counselling services to help them manage the emotional and psychological effects of the incident.