Education Minister Tahir Mamman has announced that underage candidates will no longer be permitted to take secondary school leaving examinations.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics program, the minister revealed that the Federal Government has directed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), responsible for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), and the National Examinations Council (NECO), which conducts the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), to enforce an 18-year minimum age requirement for candidates taking these exams.
Mamman also confirmed that the age limit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), administered by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), will remain at 18 years. He explained that while JAMB will admit underage students this year, starting next year, the 18-year age limit will be strictly enforced.
He clarified that this is not a new policy but a long-standing one, and emphasized that the expected number of years a student spends in school from early childhood to senior secondary level totals around 17 and a half years.
Mamman detailed that students are expected to begin early childhood care at age five, start primary school at six, complete six years of primary education, then move to junior secondary school at 12 for three years, and transition to senior secondary school at 15. By 18, they would be ready for university.
The minister reiterated that NECO and WAEC will no longer allow underage students to sit for their exams, insisting that students must have completed the necessary years of study before being eligible.