Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has said the 18 years policy of President Bola Tinubu as the age limit to write secondary school leaving examinations and enter tertiary institutions in Nigeria belongs to the Stone Age.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, announced that students below the age of 18 years would no longer be allowed to write the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and Unified Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exams.
Atiku in his reaction, said the policy is an absurdity and a disincentive to scholarship. He added that the policy runs foul of the notion of delineation of responsibilities in a federal system of government.
In a statement on Wednesday, Atiku explained that states should be allowed to make respective rules on education.
“The recent policy of the Federal Ministry of Education pegging age limits for entry to tertiary institutions is an absurdity and a disincentive to scholarship.
“The policy runs foul of the notion of delineation of responsibilities in a federal system of government such as we are pratising, and gives a graphic impression of how the Tinubu government behaves like a lost sailor on a high sea. Otherwise, how is such anti-scholarship regulation the next logical step in the myriad of issues besetting our educational system?
“To be clear, the Nigerian constitution puts education in the concurrent list of schedules, in which the sub-national government enjoys more roles above the federal government.
“Therefore, it is extra-constitutional for the federal government to legislate on education in a manner similar to a decree.
“The best global standard for such regulation is to allow the sub-national governments to make respective laws or rules on education.
“It is discouraging that even while announcing this obnoxious policy, the government inadvertently said it had no plan to cater for specially gifted pupils. That statement is an embarrassment to the body of intellectuals in the country because it portrays Nigeria as a country where gifted students are not appreciated.
“The irony here is that should the federal government play any role in education, it is to set up mechanisms that will identify and grant scholarships to gifted students not minding their ages before applying for admission into tertiary institutions.
“This controversial policy belongs in the Stone Ages and should be roundly condemned by everyone who believes in intellectual freedom and accessibility,” Atiku wrote on his X handle.
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