The federal government has said Nigerian students under the age of 18 would no longer be able to register and sit for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the Senior School Certificate Examinations organised by the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO), respectively.
Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman made this known on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.
He said the Federal Government had already directed the two examination bodies to comply with the directive on 18 years age limit for any candidate to be eligible for the two examinations.
The minister also reiterated the position of the government on the 18 years age limit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Mamman who pointed out that the 18 years cap wasn’t a new policy, said even with out such a policy in place, “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.”
Giving a breakdown of the number of years pupils are expected to spend between child care and senior secondary school, Mamman said early care is expected to last for the first five years after which pupils are expected to begin primary one at the age of six, spend six years in primary school and move to junior secondary school at the age of 12, spend three years, before moving to senior secondary school at the age of 15, to spend three more years and leave for university at the age of 18.
The minister said what was done at the JAMB policy meeting in July was to put parents on notice that beginning in 2025, children not up to the age of 18 will not be granted admission.
“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 added.
