The federal government has announced that mathematics will no longer be a compulsory subject for admission into tertiary institutions for non-science courses across Nigeria.
Gatekeepers News reports that the new policy was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday by Folashade Boriowo, spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Education, following a comprehensive review of the country’s tertiary admission framework.
According to the ministry, the updated guidelines apply to universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and innovation enterprise academies (IEAs) nationwide.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the review is part of government efforts 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,” Alausa 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“This imbalance is not due to a lack of ability but rather to outdated and overly stringent entry requirements that must give way to fairness and opportunity.”
Under the new framework, admission seekers into universities must obtain a minimum of five credit passes in relevant subjects, including English Language, in not more than two sittings. Mathematics remains compulsory for science, technology, and social science programmes.
For polytechnics, at least four credit passes are required in relevant subjects — including English for non-science courses and mathematics for science-related programmes. At the Higher National Diploma (HND) level, candidates must have five credit passes, including English and mathematics.
At colleges of education (NCE level), a minimum of four credit passes are required, with English compulsory for arts and social science courses, while mathematics is mandatory for science, vocational, and technical programmes.
For B.Ed programmes, candidates must possess at least five credits, including English and mathematics, as applicable to their field of study.
The ministry also stated that innovation enterprise academies are to adopt the same entry standards as polytechnics for National Diploma (ND) programmes. It further announced the abolition of the National Innovation Diploma (NID).
