Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the recent policy of the Federal Government, pegging age limits for entry into tertiary institutions.
Grassroots Parrot reported how the federal government barred individuals under the age of 18 from taking part in the National Examinations Council (NECO) and West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exams.
Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, while speaking on Channels TV, said the age limit for candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), administered by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), remains 18 years.
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In a post on his X handle on Wednesday, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections described the policy as absurd and disincentive to scholarship.
According to him, “the policy gives a graphic impression of how Tinubu government behaves like a lost sailor on a high sea.”
Atiku noted that the policy belongs in the Stone Ages which should be condemned by everyone who believes in intellectual freedom and accessibility.
He said, “The policy runs foul of the notion of delineation of responsibilities in a federal system of government such as we are pratising, and gives a graphic impression of how the Tinubu government behaves like a lost sailor on a high sea. Otherwise, how is such anti-scholarship regulation the next logical step in the myriad of issues besetting our educational system?
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“To be clear, the Nigerian constitution puts education in the concurrent list of schedules, in which the sub-national government enjoys more roles above the federal government.
“Therefore, it is extra-constitutional for the federal government to legislate on education in a manner similar to a decree.
“The best global standard for such regulation is to allow the sub-national governments to make respective laws or rules on education.
“It is discouraging that even while announcing this obnoxious policy, the government inadvertently said it had no plan to cater for specially gifted pupils. That statement is an embarrassment to the body of intellectuals in the country because it portrays Nigeria as a country where gifted students are not appreciated.
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“The irony here is that should the federal government play any role in education, it is to set up mechanisms that will identify and grant scholarships to gifted students not minding their ages before applying for admission into tertiary institutions.
“This controversial policy belongs in the Stone Ages and should be roundly condemned by everyone who believes in intellectual freedom and accessibility.”