Minister of Education, Mamman Tahir, while monitoring the recent Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, in Abuja, announced that 18 years would henceforth be the minimum age for the admission of students into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Most students sitting for the university enrolment examinations are between 16 and 17.
He blamed parents for "pressuring" their children and wards into embracing educational pursuits which they are too young to understand. He also defended his position, arguing that it is in line with our 6-3-3-4 educational policy.
On the face of it, the Minister is right. Eighteen years is the age of maturity or adulthood under our Constitution, and the university environment and academic content are tailor-made for matured minds.
Under ideal circumstances, toddlers should be given adequate opportunities to develop systematically from the home up to the age of five or above before being sent to school. In the past, children were allowed to spend their formative years under parental and communal guidance for proper grounding before being exposed to Western education.
Even after their School Certificates in their late teens and twenties, they were required to attend Lower and Upper Six to obtain their "A" Level Certificates which qualified them for entry into the universities.
The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, was later introduced to afford secondary school leavers the opportunity to earn direct entry into the tertiary levels. Today, the university preparatory certificate ("A" Level) is no longer fashionable or even available.
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The structure and culture of education have changed in line with contemporary circumstances. The failure of the public educational system due to the neglect of teachers' welfare and their training programmes has encouraged the upsurge of private investment in schools. Because of the profit motive of private educators, "schooling" has become available even to the suckling.
From very early infancy, children are sent to day care, creche and kindergarten before they commence primary schooling. Many working parents find this arrangement convenient, otherwise they would be forced to choose between work and staying at home to raise their infants. This is the main reason we have very young teenagers registering for the UTME.
Besides, many young parents see it as an advantage to quickly complete the education of their children before old age catches up with them. Asking children who are mentally qualified to sit for their UTME to wait till they are 18 sounds awkward, disruptive and out of tune with current realities.
Can the Minister of Education enforce this "directive" without also "legislating" on the minimum age for primary school enrolment? What will teenagers who have obtained their School Certificates at 15 or 16 be doing before they are old enough to sit for the UTME?
The National Council on Education, NCE, should sit over this matter and advise the Minister accordingly.
