The Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman has declared that starting in 2025, only individuals aged 18 and above will be eligible to sit for the National Examination Council Nigeria (NECO) and West African Examination Council (WAEC) exams.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
The minister made this announcement during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.
Mamman stated that both WAEC and NECO have been directed to enforce the 18-year age requirement for all exam candidates.
He clarified that this is an existing regulation and not a new policy. Mamman also noted that the age limit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), administered by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is 18 years.
“It is 18 years, during our meeting with JAMB in July, we agreed to allow this year as a grace period for parents. This means that JAMB will admit students below 18 years old this year, but starting next year, the age requirement of 18 will be strictly enforced for university admissions in Nigeria.
“If you calculate the standard duration for a child’s education—from early child care through primary school, junior secondary school, and senior secondary school—you’ll find that students typically reach 17 and a half years old by the time they are ready for university admission.”
According to the minister, NECO and WAEC will no longer allow underage candidates to participate in the examinations.
“In other words, if a student has not completed the requisite number of years at the appropriate level of study, they will not be permitted to take the exams,” he said.
