The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, stirred the hornet's nest at the recent Policy Meeting on Admissions to Tertiary Institutions called by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, with heads of tertiary institutions and other stakeholders, when he wanted to make 18 years the age of admission into those schools.
He said information at his disposal revealed that enrolment of underage candidates had become endemic and inflicting serious damage not only on the university but also on the education system.
The meeting comprised heads of tertiary institutions (vice-chancellors, rectors and provosts), regulatory bodies (National Universities Commission, NUC], National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, National Commission for Colleges of Education, NCCE, and other strategic partners in the tertiary education sub-sector in Nigeria.
He said: "When I was monitoring the just-concluded 2024 UTME, I was alarmed at the participation of a large number of obviously under-age candidates in the examination which necessitated my comment on the need to enforce the extant provisions of the educational policies which made provision for 9 years of Basic Education and 3 years of Senior Secondary Education before entry into tertiary institution. It is clear that a child who, as expected is enrolled in basic school at the age of 6 and having undergone 12 years of education would be around 18 years old when enrolling in a tertiary institution.
"Subsequent information has revealed that the enrolment of underage candidates is inflicting serious damage on the university and the education system, hence, the need for enforcement of extant rules.
"I have also been informed about the surge in applications for immediate requests for a change of age to reflect higher age in anticipation of the imminent enforcement of the age policy. This again reflects dangerous games being played with the lives and future of innocent children by those expected to nurture them. Flowing from this, JAMB is hereby instructed to admit only eligible students' i.e those who have attained 18 years of age. Universities are advised to avoid recommending unqualified children for admission."
As expected, the most strident opposition to the Minister came from leaders of private higher institutions. The reason is not far fetched; in some of the universities, one may see a boy or girl that is barely 15 years going for lecture.
Role of university Senate
Whether it is a public or private university, it is the duty of the Senate of the school to initiate admission process. The Senate also approves results of students before they can graduate. In acknowledging that, Mamman said: "The Senate or respective academic boards of institutions have the mandate to initiate the admission process of each candidate. JAMB as a regulatory body has the mandate by law to regulate the admission process to ensure fairness and equity. Technology has been installed to ensure compliance with mutually agreed procedures. Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) is one of such technology-platforms."
And truly, it is the Senate that does that. At the University of Lagos, UNILAG, the age is put at 16. If the Minister had his way at that meeting, his action would have breached an aspect of the much-touted autonomy of public universities.
Why some undergraduates are under 16 years
In some climes, especially in Nordic countries such as Finland, Sweden etc, a child starts primary school at six and is allowed to go to university at 18. In Nigeria, the official age to start primary school is also six, but that is not always the case. Some parents rush their children to begin at four and would not even allow the child to get to primary six before moving to secondary school. The situation means some begin secondary school education at eight or nine years and leave at 14 or a little over that age. If the child starts primary school at six and does six years, with another six years of secondary school education, he should be close to 18 before seeking admission to a higher institution.
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A retired teacher cum social worker, Mr Musbau Akinleye, told Vanguard Learning that some parents are just rushing their wards out of school for no reason.
"To some parents, as long as their children are brilliant academically, all is well. Yes, some children are prodigious, but is it all the children being rushed that are in this category? Apart from high Intelligence Quotient, there are other areas a child needs to be good to become a total child.
" One of the areas is high Emotional Quotient. Some of these underaged children being sent to universities are not matured emotionally. You see some crying like babies, some are easily bullied by older children. Some are even drawn into vices such as cultism by more matured students. The rush given some children does not mean they would have an edge over their peers in life," he stated.
Though Mamman said the government is only suspending the pegging of admission age at 18 for this year, whether that will be or not, time will tell.
