Underage applicants will not be allowed to sit for secondary school leaving examinations run by the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the Federal Government has said.
Prof. Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education, revealed this while on Sunday night’s “Sunday Politics” broadcast on Channels Television.
He underlined that now both the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) have to impose an 18-year age limit for candidates sitting the WASSCE and SSCE tests, respectively.
The minister also underlined that this is a tightening of current rules rather than a new policy.
His words: “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 further mentioned that the minimum age for candidates appearing for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), will continue to be 18 years.
