The minister who stated this in a Television programme said the Federal Government has instructed the West African Examinations Council ,WAEC, which administers the West African Senior School Certificate Examination ,WASSCE, and the National Examinations Council ,NECO, which organises the Senior School Certificate Examination ,SSCE, to comply with the directive on 18 years age limit for any candidate to be eligible for the two examinations.
Mamman also insisted that the age limit for any candidate to write the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination ,UTME, organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board ,JAMB, remained 18 years.
The minister went further to give a breakdown of the number of years pupils are expected to spend between child care and senior secondary school.
According to him, early care is expected to last for the first five years. Pupils are expected to begin primary one at the age of six, spend six years in primary school and move to junior secondary school at the age of 12, spend three years, before moving to senior secondary school at the age of 15, to spend three more years and leave for university at the age of 18.