FGN bans children below 11 from common entrance exams
The permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, expressed concern about the high number of underage children taking the National Common Entrance Examination.
He made these remarks while monitoring the 2023 examination alongside the registrar of the examination body, the National Examination Council (NECO), Ibrahim Wushishi.
“We urge parents to ensure that their children reach the appropriate age before sitting for this examination, and we will work with NECO to implement necessary checks,” he said.
Adejo confirmed that some underage children had participated in the 2023 examination, which he believed was detrimental to their development.
He emphasized that education is not solely about passing examinations and advised that children should reach the appropriate age before taking the entrance examination.
“We need to require children to present their birth certificates during registration so that we can address these issues from our end,” he added.
“To enter secondary school, a child should be at least 12 years old, and accepting children younger than 11 is unacceptable.”
Adejo expressed concern about oversubscription, which led to two candidates sharing question papers during the 2023 exercise.
He assured that such situations would no longer be tolerated.
“I was informed that there were enough question papers for every registered child, but some people registered as late as 11:23 p.m., even though the registration deadline was midnight. By that time, all question papers had been distributed. Although NECO made additional provisions for every centre, the arrangements were inadequate due to the oversubscription.”
Adejo also noted the positive outcome of the campaign to increase girls’ enrollment in schools, as more than 38,000 girls out of a total of 72,881 registered candidates participated in the 2023 examination.
In his remarks, Wushishi acknowledged the increased number of candidates registered by states in the northern parts of the country, which was an improvement compared to previous years.
NAN
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