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The Federal Government has commenced moves to stop underaged students from sitting National Common Entrance Examination conducted by the National Examination Council (NECO) for onward admission into unity colleges across the country.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. David Adejo, made the pronouncement on Saturday while monitoring the 2023 Common Entrance Examination into the 116 Federal Government Colleges across the Federation in Abuja.
Mr. Adejo directed NECO to put strict measures in place to prevent underage from registering for the examination, including making birth certificates compulsory as registration requirement.
According to him, a candidate should be at least 12 years to get into secondary school.
He further noted that a student could be eleven years during the examination but should have attained the age of 12 years by September when schools resume.
Adejo, who expressed displeasure after monitoring the exercise at the Federal Government Girls College, Bwari, and Government Day Secondary School, Bwari, noted that many underage persons sat for the examination.
He said: “This year, I have advised for parents and I beg you, take this advice to any single home you know. We are killing our children by allowing underage children to write the Common Entrance Examination.
“I saw children that I know that are not up to 10, and three of them accepted that they are nine years old.
“We are doing many things; one, we are teaching the children the wrong values. Education is not about passing exams.
“Education is teaching, learning and character formation. I beg the parents, let these children do the exams when they should.
“We don’t get value by pushing your child too far. Most of the times if a child starts too early, he or she will have problems later in life.
“Education is designed in such a way that at any particular stage in life, there are messages your brain can take and understand and be able to use.
“We are moving from education that is reliant on reading textbooks and passing exams. We are getting to a stage where education is what you can use your knowledge to do for the society.”
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The permanent secretary insisted that less than eleven years was unacceptable, disclosing that Air Force School, among others, does not accept candidates less than twelve years for admission into their schools.
Speaking further, he said: “You put a small child to go through all the rigours, by the time he finishes secondary, getting to University becomes a problem.
“I had that experience with a friend. Till date that friend did not get into a university, simply because he was put into school earlier than age that he was supposed to be put into school.
“Let our children get to appropriate age before writing this exam and we are going to make sure NECO put in place appropriate checks.
“We didn’t want to get to where we will say bring birth certificate but that is the stage we are going to now.
“In registering also upload the child’s birth certificate, so that at our own end, we are able to cut some of these things.”
This year, a total of 72,821 candidates sat for the examination on Saturday nationwide, while the number of girls that registered for the Common Entrance Examination is 38,000, far above the previous years. Read more.
