When the story of governance in Nigeria is told, the current administration headed by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will go down in history as an administration with the most controversies. Every policy of this government comes with loud controversies. From economic policy to foreign and domestic policies, they are steeped in controversies. And so it is with the recent decision of the government to impose an 18-year age restriction on students taking the National Examinations Council (NECO), the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) examination. Parents and students have cried out criticising the new policy.
Analysts and concerned observers see the new policy as restrictive and retrogressive. Educationists and stakeholders in education have rejected the policy, saying that it will undermine students’ academic progress and limit their future opportunities. According to a newspaper report, many are of the view that the new regulation is “unfair and disruptive, and will penalise students who are ready to advance their education but may not fit the age criteria.”One observer sees the new policy as a ruse to distract Nigerians from the failure of governance that has characterised the current regime. Another was more sarcastic, insinuating that the government wants to swell the army of school dropouts in order to have more touts and thugs for electoral malfeasance.
I believe that the new regulation about imposing age restriction on enrolment in school certificate examinations is exactly what observers said it is – unfair, restrictive and retrogressive and therefore unnecessary. It undermines the fact that some children are gifted and should be allowed to grow at their own pace as is the practice in other countries. Secondly, it also shows that our policy makers don’t take critical factors into consideration before arriving at policy decisions. Thirdly, the proposed regulation indicates that the policy makers don’t seem to know the major issues affecting education in the country. The Nigerian educational sector is bedevilled with a number of problems among which age of school enrolment is a mere trifle.
We don’t need to go far or search deep to see the multifarious problems facing the Nigeria educational sector. One of the greatest problems of education in Nigeria which has resulted in the mass exodus of Nigerians abroad in search of educational opportunities is lack of infrastructural facilities. There is paucity of infrastructure at all levels of education in Nigeria. In the primary school sector, there are places where children learn under the tree because they have dilapidated buildings and no seats to sit on. Most public schools have no libraries, hostel facilities and other facilities for students. There is also the issue of instability in the system occasioned by poor policies, poor funding and poor regulatory framework. Adverse social activities like cultism have been a major cause of instability in the Nigeria educational system. Manpower development has been a problem because of the poor remuneration package of teachers that has resulted in the intractable government-varsity teachers’ endless impasse.
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So, the major issues should be funding, curriculum development, technological development, resolving ASUU/FGN industrial dispute, providing the needed learning infrastructure, providing the right framework that promotes learning and knowledge management rather than imposing age limit. Education has no age limit. According to educationists, there is pedagogy for children as well as andragogy for adult learners and heutagogy for self-directed learners. A good educational policy should be of benefit for every category of learners including those with learning disorder. These days because of the availability of information due to development in information technology many people graduate from the university even at teenage age. We have had people in their early twenties bagging their PHDs. That does not constitute a problem nor does it reduce the value or standard of education.
Clearly, imposing restriction on age for exam enrolment will not improve the quality of education but rather it is counterproductive. It will frustrate brilliant students and may force pupils to falsify their age or emigrate to other countries. For a country like Nigeria with high level of out of school children and with worsening literacy level, the government should not introduce measures that would worsen the already deplorable situation.
I will earnestly advise the government to have a rethink in implementing this new policy. The government should provide the needed infrastructure, the right policy framework to regulate the quality of education in Nigeria. Talents should not be suppressed in the name of policy.
Hajia Hadiza Mohammed wrote from London, UK
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