FG Relaxes Age Limit for Gifted Students to Write WASSCE, NECO

The Federal Government has announced that exceptionally gifted children under the age of 18 may be permitted to take the West African School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, made this announcement during a visit to the Federal Government Academy in Suleja on Thursday. He said, “We are going to develop criteria to guide what we will call Gifted children.”

This announcement comes amid controversies surrounding the earlier age limit declared for school candidates to enroll in WAEC, NECO, and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in the country.

Mamman emphasized that students should not be permitted to return to an environment that is not conducive to learning. He said, “We cannot have this young children here when there is work ongoing. The plumbing facility, showers, water, and everything else are a bit unstructured because of the ongoing work, so the facility needs to be ready.”

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The minister expressed satisfaction with the newly organized skills acquisition centre, highlighting it as a progressive step for education in Nigeria. He said, “Skill the system right from the foundation level to senior secondary school so that those who finish from there can have some skills and trade to engage themselves without necessarily being stranded out there after they have finished secondary school.”