Contrary to recent reports, the Federal Ministry of Education has dismissed claims that the ministry has stopped students who have not attained the age of 18 years old from writing the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) exams.
A statement given by the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, at an event to mark the 2024 International Literacy Day (ILD) on Friday, September 6 which clarified the stance of the Government.
Sununu said that the public misconception and misinterpretation of what was said by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, was highly disappointing.
He statement that the minister was actually speaking on the 18 years of entry age into the tertiary institutions as was practiced in the 6:3:3:4 system of education.
“As regards this matter, we have made ourselves clear in different fora. But the issue kept recurring here and there. Actually, nobody among the two of us, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, nor the Minister of State, stated anything about the age limit for WAEC, NECO or NABTEB.
People just pick up some remarks the Minister made, misinterpreted the statements to imply that age restriction has been placed for WAEC and NECO examinations.
What we have been mentioning in the past was the entry age for University, candidates sitting for the UTME. We have made this clear several times, and this is in line with the National Policy on Education.
We have agreed that we are going to consider it as a work-in-progress. The National Assembly is working and we are also working. It was shocking to say that a university in this country gave admission to children at ages 10, 11 and 12 years. This is totally wrong.
We are not saying that there are no exceptions, we know we can have talented students that have the IQ of an adult even at age 6 and 7, but these are very few.
There must be a rule, and the ministry is looking at developing a guideline on how to identify a talented child, so that parents don’t say we are blocking their children’s chances.
Nobody said no child will write WAEC, NECO or any other examination unless at age 18. This is a misconception and misrepresentation of what we have said”
Dr Yusuf Sununu
This comes after former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, reacted to the rumours regarding the federal government policy on the age limit for sitting WAEC and NECO.
The former vice president said the policy belongs in the Stone Age and should be condemned by everyone.
Responses