Tinubu's govt under fire as it plans to enforce 18-year age limits for WAEC, NECO

• Hassan Soweto, a critical stakeholder in the education sector in Nigeria, has condemned the decision of the federal government to peg the age at which students can write the SSCE at 18
• Soweto reacted to the recent announcement by the minister of education, Professor Tahir Mamman, that from 2025, any candidate who is not up to 18 will not be allowed to write the examination
• The activist, who spoke in an interview seen by Legit.ng on Thursday, August 29, expressed disappointment with the development

Legit.ng journalist, Ridwan Adeola Yusuf, has over 9 years of experience covering basic and tertiary education in Nigeria and worldwide.

FCT, Abuja - Hassan Soweto, the national coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign, has asked the federal government of Nigeria to immediately suspend the 18-year age limit on NECO and WAEC examinations.

Legit.ng reports that NECO—the National Examinations Council (NECO)—and WAEC, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), are examination boards in Africa.

The federal government has decided to ban children below 18 years from sitting for the WAEC's WASSCE and NECO.
Source: Twitter

NECO conducts the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and the General Certificate in Education in June/July and November/December respectively. WAEC on the other hand oversees the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

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18-year age limit: FG told to engage stakeholders

Reacting to the comment by the minister of education, Professor Tahir Mamman, that from 2025, any candidate, who is not up to 18 will not be allowed to write the examinations and without doing so, such candidate would not be able to seek admission into tertiary institutions, Soweto accused Mamman of forcing Nigerians into a needless controversy.

Arise TV quoted Soweto as saying:

“It is wrong to blanket early entry into the university for a candidate as an automatic recipe for failure. The minister of education, by his actions, will punish thousands of young brilliant minds for lapses by the regulatory body of the ministry of education.“This policy must be suspended to give room for further engagement with stakeholders to critically analyse the metrics and place things in proper perspectives.”

Watch the interview with education expert, Hassan Soweto, below:

Controversies over age limit of potential UTME candidates

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that John Adeniyi, the deputy national coordinator of the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) decried the controversies surrounding the age limit of potential Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates.

Adeniyi sent a message to JAMB over its stance on its test administration practices, pointing out that the development was capable of contributing to the integrity of certificates awarded through such a process.

Source: Legit.ng