Students can now gain tertiary school admission for non-science courses without SSCE maths

The federal government says mathematics is no longer a required subject for tertiary school admission seekers looking to study non-science courses.

The education ministry, in a statement through its spokesperson Folashade Boriowo, announced a review of Nigeria’s tertiary school admission policy on Tuesday.

The ministry said the new framework applies to universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and innovation enterprise academies (IEAs) across the country.

Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, was quoted as saying the review is intended to “democratise access to tertiary education and empower Nigerian youths.”

“Every year, over two million candidates sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), yet only about 700,000 gain admission,” he said.

“This imbalance is not due to a lack of ability but rather to outdated and overly stringent entry requirements that must give way to fairness and opportunity.”

In the new admissions guideline, university admission seekers must attain a minimum of five credit passes in relevant subjects, including English, obtained in not more than two sittings.

Mathematics is mandatory for science, technology, and social science courses.

For polytechnics, a minimum of four credit passes are required in relevant subjects, including English for non-science courses and mathematics for science-related programmes.

At the HND level, a minimum of five credit passes are required in relevant subjects, including English Language and mathematics.

For colleges of education at NCE Level, a minimum of four credit passes in relevant subjects are required, with English mandatory for arts and social science courses.

Mathematics is required for science, vocational, and technical programmes.

Colleges of education at B.Ed Level will require a mnimum of five credit passes, including English and mathematics, as applicable to the course of study.

Innovation enterprise academies, the policy stated, are to adopt the same minimum requirements as polytechnics for the ND programme.

The National Innovation Diploma (NID), it added, is henceforth abolished.