The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, on Sunday, said underage candidates will no longer be allowed to sit for secondary school leaving examinations.

Mamman stated this while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.

He said the Federal Government has instructed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) which administers the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) which organises the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) to comply with the directive on 18 years age limit for any candidate to be eligible for the two examinations.

Mamman also insisted that the age limit for any candidate to write the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) remained 18 years.

The minister said, “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 went further to give a breakdown of the number of years pupils are expected to spend between child care and senior secondary school.

According to him, early care is expected to last for the first five years. Pupils are expected to begin primary one at the age of six, spend six years in primary school and move to junior secondary school at the age of 12, spend three years, before moving to senior secondary school at the age of 15, to spend three more years and leave for university at the age of 18.