Minister of Education Prof. Tahir Mamman has hinted that Under 18 children with exceptional intelligence may be allowed to write the West African School Certificate Examinations, WASCE and the National Examinations Council, NECO examinations.
The Federal government had announced in August that kids below 18 would not be permitted to write WAEC and NECO exams. This sparked a lot of debate with the National Union of Teachers condemning the policy.
But speaking in Abuja Thursday Prof. Mamman said: “It may not apply to gifted children. We are going to develop criteria to guide what we will call Gifted children.”
Writing in the Tribune Thursday on the issue renowned educationist and entrepreneur, Afe Babalola said the government is attempting to make up for its failure to implement the education system over the years.
“There are millions of students in senior secondary schools who will finish secondary school before they are 18 years. Will these students be asked to wait one, two or three years just because the most important pre-qualification condition for writing the WAEC, NECO and JAMB is age?
“This policy will forcefully halt academic momentum leading to an irretrievable loss of valuable time. It will certainly affect the psychology of the students negatively leading to loss of interest in education.”
