By Abiola Olawale
The Federal Government has made a u-turn on its initial pronouncement barring students under the age of 18 from taking the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and National Examinations Council (NECO) exams.
The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, who denied placing a blanket ban on all under 18 years of age students from writing WAEC and NECO made this clarification while addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday.
Sununu asserted that the statement made by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, was misinterpreted.
He emphasised that the minister’s comments were about the recommended age of entry into tertiary institutions, in line with the 6:3:3:4 system of education, rather than a restriction on sitting for WASSCE or NECO exams.
He said: “It was shocking to say that a university in this country gave admission to children at ages 10, 11, and 12 years. This is wrong.
“We are not saying that there are no exceptions; we know we can have talented students that have the IQ of an adult even at age 6 and 7, but these are very few.”
Sununu also added that while there are rare cases of exceptionally gifted students, a standard guideline must be developed.
He continued: “Nobody said no child will write WAEC, NECO, or any other examination unless at age 18. This is a misconception and misrepresentation of what we have said.”
