FG Place Strict Age Requirement for Entrance Exams Into Unity Schools

• The federal government of Nigeria has placed a strict stipulation on the age requirement for entrance exams into Unity schools
• The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education, Davido Adejo, revealed that candidates below 11 years could not sit for exams
• He noted that candidates will now upload their birth certificates during registration to verify and curb underage candidates

FCT, Abuja – The federal government has stipulated a new age requirement for children participating in the annual National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) for nationwide admission into national Unity colleges.

Emerging reports confirmed that the federal government had issued a stern directive to the National Examinations Council (NECO) to ensure strict compliance with the new rule.

As reported by TheCable, children below 11 years will not be allowed to sit for the entrance examination into Unity schools.

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It was gathered that birth certificates will now be a requirement for any children seeking entry into Unity schools.

The permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, issued this directive on Saturday, June 3, while monitoring the conduct of the 2023 NCEE in the 110 federal government colleges across the federation.

It was confirmed that 72,821 candidates sat for the examination on Saturday.

While stressing the need to curb underage children from sitting for entrance exams, he said:

“This year, I have advice for parents and I beg you, take this advice to any single home you know. We are killing our children by allowing underage children to write the Common Entrance Examination.

“I saw children that I know that are not up to 10, and three of them accepted that they are nine years old. We are doing many things; one, we are teaching the children the wrong values. Education is not about passing exams. Education is teaching, learning and character formation.”

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Mr Adejo noted that the minimum age for an entrance examination is 12 years, and any child who is 11 years and would clock 12 before September can be allowed to sit for entrance exams.

He further said:

“Let our children get to an appropriate age before writing this exam and we are going to make sure NECO puts in place appropriate checks.

“We didn’t want to get to where we will say bring birth certificate but that is the stage we are going to now. When registering, also upload the child’s birth certificate, so that at our own end, we are able to cut some of these things.”

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Meanwhile, Ejikeme Joy, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnenwi, Anambra state, emerged as the overall best student in the 2023 UTME with a score of 362.

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Joy’s scores in English Language, Physics, Biology, and Chemistry were broken down as 98%, 89%, 94%, and 81%, respectively.

The commissioner of education in Anambra state, Prof Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, commended her performance, describing it as “excellent and very outstanding.”