The Federal Government’s decision to prohibit under – 18 candidates from taking the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and the National Examination Council has led to conflicting reactions from stakeholders.
The minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, announced 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.
This means that under age candidates will no longer be able to take the West African Senior School Certificate Examination or the senior school certificate examination, both of which are required for admission to tertiary education.
The minister said “it is 18 (years). What we did at the meeting that we had with JAMB (in July) was to allow this year and for it to serve as a kind of notice for parents of candidates 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 new age requirement, which is 18.
While the academic staff union of universities (ASUU) supports the Policy, Nigeria union of teachers (NUT) and many others stakeholders have condemned it, claiming that the age ban is unrealistic and may lead to legal challenges.
The NUT said that changes in society, like early enrollment in creches due to economic pressures, make it unrealistic to restrict learning based on age.
The NUT, through it’s secretary General, Mike Ene, argued that exceptional students who might be younger but academically advanced were not considered in the policy.
The academic staff union of polytechnics (ASUP) national president, Shammah Kpanja, also said that the decision to allow students under the age of 18 to sit for exams should be based on their abilities, stating that gifted students at not need to spend the full school years.
The ASUP called on the government to focus on critical issues like providing functional equipments in schools, addressing infrastrure deficits and improving teachers welfare, rather than on exams age restrictions.
The polytechnic lecturer also questioned the government priorities pointing out inconsistencies, such as allowing child marriages in the North while restricting younger students from taking WAEC.
“Did their children sir for WAEC at 18 years ? you allowed younger girls to marry at 12 in the North , but they can’t take WAEC at 16 ? What are the Government’s priorities ?
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