Another hurdle has emerged on the pathway of prospective candidates of the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the West African Examinations Council exams.
This time round the hurdle has to do with age, and those of them who are under age 18 would not be allowed to take part in the examinations.
Their prohibition from sitting for any of those examinations was announced by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman.
The minister who broke the news while on a Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’ programme said that the federal government had directed the two examination bodies to ensure adherence.
On age requirement for candidates of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, administered by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, the minister said:
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“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.
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“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.”
Cami Ezenwa is a Writer, Editor, Publicist, Biographer and Journalism Trainer
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