No Age Restriction for WASSCE, NECO Exams - Education Minister Clarifies

The Federal Ministry of Education has dispelled rumors that students under the age of 18 are barred from taking the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and National Examinations Council (NECO) exams.

This announcement was made by Dr. Yusuf Sununu, the Minister of State for Education, during an event in Abuja marking the 2024 International Literacy Day.

The confusion stemmed from comments made by Education Minister Tahir Mamman on August 25th, which were widely misinterpreted. Mamman had discussed the entry age of 18 for tertiary institutions as per the 6:3:3:4 education system, but this was misconstrued as a ban on younger students taking WASSCE and NECO exams. Dr. Sununu addressed these misconceptions directly, stating, "Nobody said no child will write WAEC, NECO or any other examination unless at age 18.

This is a misconception and misrepresentation of what we have said." He further explained that the ministry's focus is on preventing extremely young children, some as young as 10, from being admitted into universities, while still allowing talented younger students to sit for their exams. "We are not saying that there are no exceptions; we know we can have talented students that have the IQ of an adult even at age 6 and 7, but these are very few," Sununu added.

The ministry is working on developing guidelines to identify and support such gifted children, ensuring that their opportunities are not blocked. "There must be a rule, and the ministry is looking at developing a guideline on how to identify a talented child, so that parents don’t say we are blocking their children’s chances," Sununu emphasized.