The Nigerian government through the Minister of State for Education, Tanko Sununu says, contrary to insinuations in the public space, the ministry has not banned students who are not up to 18 years of age from writing the annual West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, and the National Examinations Council, NECO, exams across the country.
The Minister made the clarification on the sidelines of an event to mark the 2024 International Literacy Day (ILD), with the theme: “Promoting Multilingual Education: Literacy for Mutual Understanding and Peace.” held in Abuja, Nigeria.
He said statements being attributed to the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Maman are misinterpretations, stressing that the insinuations are highly disappointing adding that the Minister only spoke on the National Policy of the 18 years entry age into the tertiary institutions in the country under the 6:3:3:4 system of education.
According to him, under the National Policy, a child is expected to be six years old before gaining entrance into Primary School, spend three years in Junior Secondary school, JSS, and another three years in Senior Secondary school, culminating to 18 years before heading to the university to spend four years.
“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,. We only talked about the 18 years entry age to Tertiary Institutions which is a national policy.”
He explained that the Minister’s remarks came out of understandings that some Universities in Nigeria admit underage students, as low as 10 years in some cases, which is not good for the child’s psychology.
“It was shocking to say that a university in this country gave admission to children at ages 10, 11 and 12 years. This is totally wrong.”
He said despite the underage admission into higher institutions that has been observed, the ministry equally takes into consideration those with exceptional intelligence Quotient, IQ, who even at 6 years of age possess adult learning capacity, adding that the ministry is working on guidelines for such students to be easily identified.
“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.
“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.
“We have agreed that we are going to consider it. It is a work in progress. The National Assembly is working and we are also working.”
On the International Literacy Day, Sununu said the Nigerian government would continue to leverage the existing progress and transformation in the promotion of multi-lingual education to improve literacy in the country, adding that literacy plays critical roles in fostering mutual understanding, peace and socio-economic development.
He reiterated the Nigerian Government’s commitment to addressing literacy challenges using the new Education roadmap, 2024-2027 adding that youth and adult literacy are key components of the roadmap while emphasizing the importance of using learners’ mother tongues as a medium of instruction.
“We must focus on the role of a learner’s first language in becoming literate, which will foster mutual understanding and peace.”
He expressed the need for well-trained educators who should be equipped to teach in local languages, as well as the development of follow-up reading materials in the languages.
The Executive Secretary, National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education (NMEC), Prof. Simon Akpama, reaffirmed the Commission’s dedication to integrating multilingual education into schools’ literacy programmes.
“In an increasingly interconnected world, multilingual education is not just a necessity, it is a tool for fostering peace and cultural respect,” he said.
UNESCO’s Country Representative, Mr Diallo Abdourahamane, said multiple languages break barriers to social inclusion of indigenous communities.
He said that in a country like Nigeria, linguistic diversity should be celebrated and seen as a key opportunity for fostering, justice, inclusivity, enriching cultures and sustaining peace, emphasizing that literacy remains a fundamental human right.
International Literacy Day, ILD, an annual event is usually held on September 8 and is used to focus attention on the importance of literacy to individuals, communities, and societies.
PIAK
