Tertiary education age limit: Tinubu’s govt behaves like sailor lost on high seas – Atiku

Tertiary education age limit: Tinubu’s govt behaves like sailor lost on high seas – Atiku

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the
federal government’s directive that admission to tertiary institutions should
not be given to candidates less than 18 years old.

 

Atiku who made this known to journalists in a statement on his
Facebook handle, described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government as behaving
like a lost sailor on a high sea.

 

Recall that Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, had
directed that admission to tertiary institutions should not be given to
candidates less than 18 years old.

 

He noted that the 18-year benchmark is in line with the
6-3-3-4 system of education.

 

Tahir said: “The minimum age of entry into the university is
18, but we have seen students who are 15, 16 years going in for the entrance
examination.

 

“Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards too
much. Mostly, it is the pressure of parents that is causing this.

 

“We are going to look at this development because the
candidates are too young to understand what the whole university education is
all about.

 

“This is the period when children migrate from controlled to
uncontrolled environment; when they are in charge of their own affairs.

 

“But, if they are too young, they won’t be able to manage
properly. I think that is part of what we are seeing in the universities
today.”

 

However, reacting to his statement Atiku opined that the
recent policy of the Federal Ministry of Education pegging age limits for entry
to tertiary institutions was an absurdity and a disincentive to scholarship.

 

According to him: “The policy runs foul of the notion of
delineation of responsibilities in a federal system of government such as we
are practising, 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.”

Source: Tertiary education age limit: Tinubu’s govt behaves like sailor lost on high seas – Atiku

 - NigerianEye

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