Federal Govt to review age restriction for WASSCE, SSCE exams

The Federal Government is considering a review of its decision on age restriction for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE).

This comes after the Federal Government last week barred individuals under the age of 18 from writing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE).

The Minister of Education, Prof Tahir in a television interview explained that the government had instructed the West African Examinations Council, which conducts WASSCE, and NECO, which oversees SSCE, to enforce the 18-year age requirement for examination.

“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,” he said in the interview.

Prof Mamman explained that with the 6-3-3-4 education system in Nigeria, the number of years a student would end up with was 17 and a half – from early child care, primary, junior secondary to senior secondary education.

But the Education Minister, Thursday, said exceptionally intelligent students below the age of 18 might be allowed to take the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and Senior Secondary Certificate Examination.

Prof Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education during a tour of the Federal Government Academy, Suleja, Niger State, also known as National School for the Gifted hinted at the possibility of the exemption.

Asked if the 18-year age limit would apply to a school raising very intelligent students, the Minister in Charge of Education said “It may not and we are going to develop criteria to guide what we will call gifted children.”