THE Federal Government (FG) has set a minimum age limit of 18 years for candidates to be eligible to take the National Examination Council (NECO) and West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) examinations.
The Minister of Education Tahir Mamman revealed this while speaking on Channels Television’s “Sunday Politics” programme on August 25.
According to Mamman, the FG has instructed WAEC and NECO to implement an existing policy requiring candidates to be at least 18 years old to take the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), respectively.
Mamman clarified that this age requirement was not new. He noted that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination also maintains an 18-year age limit for candidates.
Mamman explained that the minimum age requirement for university admission in Nigeria must be 18 years.
He argued that during a meeting with JAMB in July, it was agreed that students under 18 would be admitted this year, but starting next year, JAMB would strictly enforce the 18-year age requirement.
“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 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,” he stated.
The ICIR reported that in July, Mamman, a professor, made a U-turn on his earlier directive mandating JAMB and Nigerian tertiary institutions not to admit candidates below 18 years.
This decision came after objections and appeals from stakeholders, including rectors, registrars, vice chancellor and other principal officers, present at the 2024 admission policy meeting organised by JAMB, in Abuja on Thursday, July 18.
The ICIR reports that Mamman directed JAMB and tertiary institutions to stop admitting under-18-year-old candidates into higher education programmes.
He issued the order at the 2024 admission policy meeting, decrying the activities of some parents, whom he said pressured their underage wards to get admission into tertiary institutions.
His announcement sparked mixed reactions among vice-chancellors, rectors and registrars present at the meeting, with some stakeholders protesting against his declaration.
A reporter with the ICIR
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