Sometime last week the news broke that Professor Tahir Mamman, the minister of education had announced that the minimum age limit for entry into university should be 18. He was said to have stated that although age should not be a barrier to entry into university, the current practice where 14/15/16 years olds were being admitted into the university was not ideal. He further stated that the 18 year benchmark is in line with the 6-3-3-4 system of education. Members of the Committee on Higher Education of the Federal House of Representatives have agreed with him, saying that there is an existing law mandating that admission is to be given to candidates who are 18 years old but that the house will amend it and make it robust.
As to be expected, many people have decried the statement of the minister for several reasons. The long list of students awaiting entry into the public universities, the incessant strikes which result in students spending several extra years to graduate through no fault of theirs, the age limit for most entry jobs in the job market, the effect the policy will have on gifted children, the widening gap between private and public universities as it is thought that the policy will not affect private universities, the desire of parents to be done with their children’s education early and spend most of their active years in pleasure without the pressure of school fees and the unspoken desire especially in these dire times to have our children become independent earlier.
I was in primary 4 when the then Jakande Government introduced primary 6 and insisted that schools must incorporate the class into their system. I remember then, that a lot of students left my primary school for the missionary schools which the government later took over because the proprietor of my school refused to comply with the policy. I took the common entrance exam in primary 5 and got admission into the federal government girls college Bida Niger State as I turned 10. By some stroke of luck, I was the last set for Form 5 as we then knew it. The 6.3.3.4 system started with the set immediately after me. I was a very average student but I did reasonably well in one off exams, so I passed my WAEC and JAMB exams and due to the fact that I put the relatively new university LASU as my first choice coupled with the fact that I am from Lagos State, I got admission into university the year I left secondary school at the age of 15+.
I celebrated my 16th birthday some weeks after matriculation. If things had gone according to plan, I would have graduated at 19 but alas, my immaturity caught up with me and put a comma in the plan . I had an extra year, graduated with a third class at 20 and was called to the Nigerian Bar at 21 having somewhat redeemed my image with a second class lower degree. I have briefly explained my educational experience to show that I understand the arguments for and against the 18 year minimum age limit for undergraduates and I must state upfront that I am totally for it.
The pros of children entering into university at an earlier age as listed by the proponents are germane but they are forgetting a very important factor which is that academic soundness does not equate to emotional maturity. Our children today have knowledge at their fingertips, but one factor every parent worries about is their inability to withstand pressure, their lack of resilience, street cred and emotional intelligence. I am of the opinion that this is why a lot of them are attracted to and are increasingly dependent on mood enhancers and drugs which allow them to cope with the pressures of their lives.
In our usual disdain for structure and progressive growth we have not allowed our children to grow organically. From as early as age two, we engage lesson teachers for them. When they get into primary school we favour schools that use textbooks meant for a higher class as it means our children know more than their mates and are not wasting our money. In secondary school, we ensure that we enroll them for external exams so they can get “used to them” or so we tell ourselves We are in a hurry for them to grow up and so decry play at school, social exercises and every attempt of the school to focus on areas other than academics.
I was not prepared for the university experience and it showed. My first year was an unending session of parties, clubs and social events. I didn’t do much reading thinking I could wing it as usual but I didn’t understand the cumulative effect of the grading system and by the time I had an inkling of what was going on, I was in my third year with many carry overs. My experience made me adamant that my children will not go into university before the age of 18 especially after I discovered that the year one graduated was not a determinant factor of success.
Consequently, I insisted that they attended school even during those extra days after exams were over because of my belief that the school experience is more about the shaping of minds, the social interaction with peers which make for a well balanced child than academics. They did primary 6 even though more than half of their classmates had left for secondary school after the fifth year and turned 11 the year they each entered into secondary school.
We may not know it, but in the UK children complete 7 years of primary school education, before moving to a secondary school and the secondary school system covers education from ages 11-18. It is the policy in the UK for instance that a child must be 11 on or before the 1st day of September of that year to qualify for entry into year 7 the equivalent of our JSS1 . It is a strict policy and if your child was born on the 9th of September for instance, he or she will be told to wait till the next year. A few schools that follow the British or international baccalaureate programme in Nigeria adhere to this but I know of parents who have sworn affidavits falsifying their children’s ages so they can be admitted into year 7 before they turn 11.
When my children got into secondary school I didn’t fall into the temptation of allowing them to try out WAEC or GCE out in SS2 to “prepare them” for the exam, so I wasn’t confronted with the dilemma of keeping them in school for one more year even though they passed the exams at their first attempt. After SS3, they stayed at home for a gap year before they finally left for university at the ripe old age of 18 and I can say that they are the better for it today.
There is a reason why most indigenous students in developed countries go into university at the very least at ages 17/18 and that’s because there is a system in place that they follow. In the UK after year 11, students go through two years of A levels before going into university and it is rare to be less than 17/18 if one has gone through the A Levels programme. This is not to say that if a child shows exceptional brilliance and academic prowess and maturity she or he will not be considered but we all know that children like this are in the minority .
There is also a reason why most educators insist on certain ages for certain classes and mainly it’s because they believe that by those ages e.g 5/6 for primary school, 11/12 for secondary school and 17/18 for university, the child has developed the social, emotional and cognitive skills needed for that stage of their education. The younger child can express themselves better and can communicate clearly, they understand, assimilate and apply what they read and not just cram information. One reason why I love the British curriculum is that it takes note of the fact that each class consists of children with different abilities and capabilities and it makes room for that in the curriculum whilst ensuring that all children who go through the class have an understanding of what was taught and are able to answer questions relating to their lessons no matter how they are couched.
As parents, we must ask ourselves to what end is the purpose of educating our children? If it is so that our children can enter the workforce, my question is why the unnecessary hurry? They will be in the workforce for years to come and the marketplace is a great leveller. I have found out that in the long run it matters little when you enter it, it’s the impact that you make and the individual trajectory that really counts.
