Education Minister Tahir Mamman has announced that candidates under the age of 18 will no longer be allowed to take secondary school leaving examinations in Nigeria.
This decision, aimed at enforcing the age limit of 18, was announced during his appearance on Channels TV. Sunday politics Program.
According to Mamman, the federal government has directed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) to comply with the directive.
From now on, only candidates who are at least 18 years old are eligible to take the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).
The minister also reiterated the age limit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), stating that candidates must be at least 18 years old to be eligible for admission.
“It is 18 (years). What we did in our meeting with JAMB (in July) was to allow admission this year and use it as a kind of indication to parents that JAMB is admitting students below that age this year but from next year, JAMB will insist that anyone applying to study in Nigeria must have attained the required age of 18,” Mamman explained.
He stressed that this was not a new policy, but rather a reminder of existing regulations.
“Even if you calculate the number of years that students and learners are supposed to spend in school, you get 17.5 years – from early childhood education through primary school and secondary school to senior high school. By the time they are ready to be admitted, they are 17.5 years old,” he said.
“So, contrary to what some people say, we are not developing new policies, we are simply reminding people of what already exists.
“In any event, NECO and WAEC will no longer allow underage children to sit their examinations. In other words, if someone has not completed the required number of years at that particular level of study, WAEC and NECO will not allow him to sit for the examination.”
