Age limit for university: Tinubu and his govt behaves like sailor lost on high seas – Atiku

Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president, has denounced the federal government’s decree prohibiting candidates under the age of eighteen from being admitted to postsecondary schools.

In a comment posted on his Facebook page, Atiku expressed his opinions, characterizing President Bola Tinubu’s administration as acting like a lost sailor at sea.

Recall that Tahir Mamman, the minister of education, issued a directive prohibiting candidates under the age of 18 from being admitted to postsecondary institutions.

He pointed out that the 6-3-3-4 educational system and the 18-year benchmark are compatible.

Tahir said: “The minimum age of entry into the university is 18. But we have seen students who are 15, 16 years old 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 a controlled to an 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.”

Atiku hits FG
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 (it) 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 to 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 Age and should be roundly condemned by everyone who believes in intellectual freedom and accessibility.”