The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, has defended the decision of the current administration to prevent students under 18 years of age from writing the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).
Speaking on Thursday during the Inter-Ministerial Press Briefing in Abuja, Mamman said the ban is in line with the nation’s laws and its educational policies.
He also argued that the policy is not a new one, but the administration of President Bola Tinubu is only implementing what the law says.
The Minister maintained that from 2025, candidates below 18 will not be allowed to sit for the SSCE, adding that in the long run, Nigerians would come to see that the policy is beneficial.
He also accused many parents of being too much in a hurry to rush their children through school.
“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,” Mamman said.
The Minister also clarified that the laws are not new, nor were they enacted by the Tinubu administration.
He said that the current administration is just implementing the policies so that students can get the best out of the system.
“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.
“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,” the Minister said.
