Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, has criticized the Federal Government’s decision to prevent students under 18 from taking exams administered by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO), as well as from gaining admission to universities in Nigeria.
Babalola condemned the new policy as unacceptable and regressive, urging the government to avoid implementing measures that could hinder the development and potential of young citizens who are essential for addressing the nation’s various challenges.
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The ABUAD founder, while speaking in Ado Ekiti on Thursday in reaction to the policy, said, “I am not shocked that no Nigerian was named among the young achievers in the world. This is because there are strategic policies that suspend the laudable achievements of brilliant young minds till later ages. The proof of this assertion is all around us.
“You don’t just go out as a Minister of Education to direct universities against the university’s autonomy as to who to admit or who not to admit. The university must decide to exercise its discretion and you can’t take that discretion from them”.
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Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, recently reaffirmed the federal government’s policy prohibiting students under 18 from taking exams that lead to higher education access.
In a television interview, Mamman stated that WAEC and NECO have been instructed to enforce this 18-year age limit for their exams. He emphasized that the minimum age requirement for university admission in Nigeria remains 18 years.
But Babalola said, “Having a minimum age of admission into the tertiary institution rule that allows for no exception is a problematic position that will in the long run affect the dreams of the younger generations.
“To me, the issue of age is a matter of discretion for the university and let me say that we have been doing it here. We have students who came to ABUAD at 15 and graduated with First class at the age of 19 and we will continue to do it.
“We do not forge with our own hands the chain that will hamper the development of our gifted children. The minimum age requirement should also give universities the discretion to admit children below the age of 16 who are endowed with exceptional ability.
“University autonomy includes among other things the discretion to waive the minimum age requirements for students who pass the minimum admission requirements and possess exceptional academic potentials. This is as obtainable in the UK, Australia, Norway and South Korea.
“It should not be within the competence of the Federal Government to direct that students of certain ages are disqualified from entering into tertiary institutions after they have met all other admission requirements.
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The ABUAD Chancellor quoted the American psychologist, Elaine Aaron, to have once said ‘What could we need more right now than people who think carefully, feel deeply, notice the subtle details, and end up having the big picture?’
Babalola added that “these four qualities are essential to nation-building. Age is not one of them, neither is it a requirement to obtain any of them. Maturity is not a function of age. Rather, it is a function of the mindset, emotional intelligence, and the ability to understand oneself and the world.
“Maturity is earned from training the mind, not from aging. Consequently, we have many adults who are all but mature in the way they think, act, or relate with others and the world they live in. Conversely, we have children who have defied all odds and achieved even the seemingly impossible,” the elder statesman said.
