Federal Ministry of Education has clarified that it has not stopped students who are not up to 18 years old from writing the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination(WASSCE) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) exams.
The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, made the clarification in Abuja yesterday while fielding questions from journalists at an event to mark the 2024 International Literacy Day (ILD).
Sununu said that the public misconception and misinterpretation of what was said by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, was highly disappointing.
He said that the minister was actually speaking on the 18 years entry age into the tertiary institutions as was practiced in the 6:3:3:4 system of education.
“It was shocking to say that a university in this country gave admission to children at ages 10, 11 and 12 years. This is totally 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.
“There must be a rule, and the ministry is looking at developing a guideline on how to identify a talented child, so that parents don’t say we are blocking their children’s chances
