THE Federal Government has defended its ban on students less than 18 years old sitting for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), accusing parents of hurrying their children/wards.
In July, the Minister of Education Tahir Mamman said that starting from 2025, candidates below 18 will not be allowed to sit for the SSCE.
Although the minister said the development was in line with the country’s laws, the move created ripples across the country, prompting a backlash from several quarters.
But at the Inter-Ministerial Press Briefing in Abuja, Mamman has defended the policy which he said will pay the country in the long run.
“Our laws, the Universal Basic Education Act and the Minimum Standards Policy Act established in 1993 prescribed specific age limits and provisions for every level of education: six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary school, three years in senior secondary school, and then five to six years before primary school (in pre-primary school). A child is expected to enter school at the age of six.
“But what has been happening is that our parents have been in a hurry. They frog jump their children, get them into school at the age of four, skip level six at primary school, and also skip level six at secondary school. So they finish quite too young.
“Now, what we have done is that with the type of curriculum that we have introduced, we need them to be in place as prescribed by the acts.”
He said the ministry is only implementing already existing laws and not introducing new ones as many are speculating.
“Those two acts that I have mentioned, we need them to be in place [for them] to learn and acquire knowledge and skills. I remember these acts are not the ones prescribed by the government. They were not enacted during this government’s time,” the minister said on Thursday.
“This is an act that was established in 1993. The 6-3-3-4 came into being around 1982. So, this policy is already a very, very old policy. All that the Ministry
“All that the Minister of Education did is say, ‘Ok, we come back to implementing these policies so that students can remain in school and learn skills so that when they finish, they will be able to be engaged productively, even if they don’t go to college education or universities, they will have skills that they can be employed with or be even self-employed’.”
