NECO: Fed Govt bans underage from common entrance exams
The Federal Government has prohibited minors from taking the National Common Entrance Examination administered by the National Examination Council (NECO) for admission into unity colleges nationwide.
The government instructed NECO to implement stringent measures to prevent minors from registering for the examination, such as requiring birth certificates as a registration prerequisite.
It stated that in order to enter secondary school, a candidate must be at least 12 years old, adding that a candidate could be eleven plus during the examination and by September would have reached the minimum age requirement.
David Adejo, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, issued the directive on Saturday in Abuja while supervising the 2023 Common Entrance Examination for the 116 Federal Government Colleges across the Federation.
Nationwide, a total of 72,821 candidates took the exam on Saturday.
After observing the examination at the Federal Government Girls College, Bwari, and the Government Day Secondary School, Bwari, the Permanent Secretary was dismayed to see so many minors participating.
He insisted that less than eleven years was unacceptable and disclosed that the Air Force School, among others, does not admit students younger than twelve years old.
Adejo stated, “This year, I have advised parents, and I implore you to share this advice with every household you know. We are murdering our children by permitting minors to take the Common Entrance Examination.
“I observed children I know to be younger than 10, and three of them claimed to be nine years old. We are engaged in a number of activities, one of which is teaching the children incorrect values.
Examinations are not the purpose of education. Education consists of teaching, learning, and character development.
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“I beg the parents to allow these students to take their exams on time. We gain nothing by pushing your child too hard. The majority of the time, if a child begins too young, he or she will experience difficulties later in life.
“Education is designed in such a way that there are messages your brain can take in, comprehend, and use at each stage of life. We are moving away from an education based on reading textbooks and passing tests.
“We are approaching a time when education is defined by what you can do with your knowledge for society. If you subject a young child to all the rigours, by the time he completes secondary school, his admission to college becomes difficult. This experience was shared with a friend. This friend has not been admitted to a university because he was enrolled in elementary school before the age at which he should have been enrolled.
“Let our children reach the appropriate age before taking this exam, and we will ensure that NECO implements the necessary safeguards. We did not want to reach the point where we require birth certificates, but that is where we are headed. Please upload the child’s birth certificate when registering, so that we can reduce some of these administrative tasks.”
The permanent secretary also noted that the Federal Government and other stakeholders’ efforts to encourage girls’ education are bearing fruit, stating that the number of girls who registered for the Common Entrance Examination this year is 38,000, which is a significant increase over previous years.
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