Mary Onyia
Stakeholders in the education sector have criticized the Federal Government’s plan to peg the age at which children could qualify to sit for the West African Senior Certificate Examination, WAEC, and National Examination Council, NECO, at 18.
This followed the announcement by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, Who disclosed on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’ program that the Federal Government had instituted a new age policy for secondary school leaving examinations, setting the minimum age at 18.
Mamman also confirmed that the age limit to undertake the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, overseen by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, will also be 18, beginning in 2025.
This has generated reactions from the National Union of Teachers, NUT, the National Parents/Teachers Association of Nigeria, NPAN, and other interested parties, some of whom had described the new policy as punitive, especially for gifted children.
Defending the policy, the minister said it was not new.
“To avoid doubt, this is not a new policy; this is a policy that has been around for a long time,” Mamman stated. He further stressed that the policy is in line with the 6-3-3-4 educational policy of the federal government.
The Minister explained that this policy had been in operation since July, stating that the federal government, owing to pleas by parents and concerned parties had made an exception for 2024 candidates, many of whom had already taken the WAEC and JAMB exams and had been offered admission into various institutions of learning.
In view of the considerations above, Mamman stated that the federal government had to allow candidates as low as 16 to proceed with their admissions, but that in the coming year, 2025, such under-aged students will no longer be allowed to write the SSCE.
The Education Minister stated that the required age for admission into tertiary institutions was 18 and not 16.
“It is 18 (years). What we did at the meeting that we had with JAMB was to allow underage candidates this year and serve as a kind of notice for parents.
“JAMB will admit students who are below that age, but from next year, JAMB is going to insist that anybody applying to go to university in Nigeria meets the required age which is 18,” the Education Minister clarified
“Even basically, if you compute the number of years pupils, and learners are supposed to be in school, the number you will end up with is 17 and a half – from early child care to primary school to junior secondary school and then senior secondary school. You will end up with 17 and a half by the time they are ready for admission.
“So, we are not coming up with a new policy, contrary to what some people are saying; we are just simply reminding people of what is existing. In any case, NECO and WAEC, henceforth, will not be allowing underage children to write their examinations. In other words, if somebody has not spent the requisite number of years in that particular level of study, WAEC and NECO will not allow them to write the examination.”
This policy has, however, come under severe criticism, especially by teachers and parents. According to reports, NUT views the policy as a setback.
Reacting to the issue, the Secretary General of the NUT, Dr Mike Ene, reportedly expressed disappointment at the development and advised the federal government to review the policy for the benefit of all.
“The NCE comprises the ministers, commissioners for education in all states, the NUT, bodies such as WAEC, NECO, JAMB, UBEC and others. If that is done, what will become of gifted children? Yes, in our days, people start school at six years old, but we still had those who left secondary school before 18.
“Now that our children start early, say by three years they are in creche, singing nursery rhymes, after that, they move on. So, they complete secondary school education before 18, some a little over 16. What will such students be doing? Devil finds work for an idle hand,” he said.
Meanwhile, the parent body of the Parents/Teachers Association has reportedly threatened to take the federal government to court.
In a report by Vanguard, the Deputy National President of NAPTAN, Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, reportedly said the body will challenge the matter in court.
“We have spoken to some lawyers on the matter, they said we should just be patient for the year, 2025 to roll in. Around March next year, before WAEC and others start to conduct the SSCE, we will sue the government if they refuse to drop the policy. We will go to court because the minister wants to draw.
With additional reports from the Vanguard