From next year, anybody applying to go to university in Nigeria will have to meet the required age which is 18 - Education Minister Tahir Mamman

On "Sunday Politics" on Channels Television, Education Minister Tahir Mamman declared that the Federal Government has implemented a new age policy for secondary school leaving examinations, with the minimum age being 18.

Candidates who are underage will no longer be permitted to take the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which are both essential for moving on to higher education. 

The National Examinations Council (NECO), which oversees the SSCE, and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), which conducts the WASSCE, are both impacted by the decision. Furthermore, Minister Mamman reaffirmed that the minimum age to take the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)-administered Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will be eighteen. 

 

He 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 that this year, 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.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a new policy; this is a policy that has been there for a long time. 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.”

 

The minister continued by breaking down how many years students should spend in child care and senior secondary school. Early care is supposed to last for the first five years, he said. It is anticipated that students will start primary education at age six, complete six years of primary school, transfer to junior secondary school at age twelve, spend three years there, then proceed to senior secondary school at age fifteen, complete three more years there, and graduate from high school at age eighteen. 

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