Following the deluge of criticisms that trailed the controversial 18-year minimum age requirement for admission to university and other tertiary institutions, the Federal Government has reversed the inimical policy. The new Minister of Education, Dr. Morufu Tunji Alausa, announced the reversal of the age limit during his inaugural press conference in Abuja recently. According to the minister, “we will not be going forward with the 18-year admission benchmark. We will go with 16 years and we are going to meet with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and others on that.”
He further reiterated that “there will also be exceptions for the gifted students. Eighteen years is not part of our policy again.” The abolished policy was inaugurated and promoted by the former Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman. He had then disclosed that the age limit policy complied with the age requirement for entry into tertiary institutions as stipulated in the National Policy on Education, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act and the Education (Minimum) Standards Act 1993. The new minister explained that the policy was detrimental to government’s efforts to reduce the number of out-of-school children across the country.
Although Mamman had acknowledged that some children were exceptionally and that the ministry would work out a guideline to deal with cases of genuine exceptionally intelligent learners, the guideline was not in public domain before he was relieved of his post. By reversing the retrogressive age restriction policy, the Federal Government has done the right thing. The policy was widely condemned across the country. Apart from being retrogressive, the age restriction policy will set the nation’s varsity education back by many years. At a time many young people are bagging postgraduate degrees abroad at 20, it is absurd to limit university admission age at 18. By its reversal, the government of President Bola Tinubu has demonstrated that it listens to the yearnings of the people. The former minister of education did not consult widely with many stakeholders before announcing the age restriction policy. Some vice chancellors and rectors had opposed the decision, and contended that the 18-year admission policy would compel students below 18 years to stay at home for two to three more years before gaining entry to the university.
We commend the new minister for acknowledging the flaws in the age restriction policy and consequently setting it aside. We also bemoan policy inconsistency in government. Henceforth, government officials should desist from changing policy without carrying stakeholders along. There must be genuine reason for changing policy. Any education policy must take cognizance that there is no uniform age for maturity. It is worth pointing out that people mature differently and process learning differently. The reasons for the disparity in maturity range from genetic factors, learning environment and intelligence quotient. Gifted kids always perform better than their peers, which is why brilliant students should be allowed to proceed to the university without necessarily reaching the age of 18 years.
No doubt, the age restriction policy will be detrimental to the Federal Government’s plan to reduce the rising number of out-of-school children in the country. Nigeria’s out-of-school children population is alarming at over 20 million. Available statistics show that one out of three children in Nigeria is out of school. In primary school, 10.2 million children are outside the school system; in junior secondary school, 8.1 million children are out of school; 12.4 million children never attended school, while 5.9 million children left school early. The factors that lead to increase in the number of out-of-school children are economic barriers, gender, geographical location, discouraging socio-cultural norms and demand for labour in the farms.
At the same time, the minister’s plan to increase school enrollment by working with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to implement conditional cash transfer programmes and providing financial incentives for families is laudable. In the North-West and North-East regions, which have the highest number of out-of-school children in the country, the problem is largely driven by poverty. Giving the parents financial incentives will enable them bring these children into the classroom. The school meal programme can also boost the enrollment of children in schools. That is why the school meal programme should be introduced in all schools across the country. We say this because every zone has a large population of out-of-school children.