The Federal Government is considering the adoption of 18 years as the entry age for admission into universities and other tertiary institutions of learning.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman said this while monitoring the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in Abuja on Monday.
The minister observed that underage students were responsible for some of the problems being encountered in higher institutions.
He however, cautioned parents against pushing their children and wards too much to allow them to attain some level of maturity to be able to better manage their affairs.
According to him “The other thing which we notice is the age of those who have applied to go to the university. Some of them are too young. We are going to look at it because they are too young to understand what a university education is all about.
“That’s the stage when students migrate from a controlled environment where they are in charge of their affairs. So if they are too young, they won’t be able to manage properly. That accounts for some of the problems we are seeing in the universities.
“We are going to look at that. 18 is the entry age for university but you will see students, 15, and 16, going to the examination. It is not good for us. Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards, or children too much.”
The minister commended the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board for a seamless examination process.
According to him, the adoption of technology had helped in reducing the cases of examination practices.
“Right from screening to those who are here…the examination process is seamless. The environment is comfortable for students. That’s how it should be, especially the use of technology in our affairs and the educational system. It makes life easy for everybody and seamless.
“As we know this examination is going on throughout the country. It is being monitored everywhere seamlessly and from the report I have heard, the malpractice level is very low. Just a 100 out of the 1.2m. It has gone down drastically and believe that it is the use of technology that has made that happen so this is very good.”
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While reacting to the high number of candidates seeking admission into the limited slots available in tertiary institutions, Mamman maintained that skills acquisition remains a critical component in preparing the youths for a brighter future.
“The only solution to that is skills; by taking skills right from the time they entered school, for the primary right through the educational trajectory. Somebody should finish with one skill or another. That is part of the assumption of the 6-3-3-4.” He said.
“It is assumed that by the time a student finishes up to the JSS level, he will have acquired some skills. If he does not proceed to the senior secondary level, he will have acquired some skills that will help him navigate life and cease to be a burden on his parents and society.
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