Federal Government Clarifies: No Age Limit for NECO and WAEC Exams
The Federal Government has clarified that there is no age limit for students taking the National Examinations Council (NECO) and West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exams.
This clarification was made by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tanko Sununu, on Friday at a World Literacy Day event in Abuja. Dr. Sununu emphasized that any age restriction is only applicable to candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), not for NECO, WAEC, or the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB).
“As regards this matter, we have made ourselves clear in different fora. But the issue kept recurring here and there,” Dr. Sununu said. “Actually, neither the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, nor the Minister of State has stated anything about an age limit for WAEC, NECO, or NABTEB. People just picked up some remarks made by the Minister, misinterpreting them to imply that an age restriction has been placed on WAEC and NECO examinations.”
Dr. Sununu reiterated that any past discussions about age limits were solely in reference to the entry age for university through the UTME.
Regarding age restrictions for UTME candidates, Dr. Sununu explained that the policy aligns with the National Policy on Education, which expects that “a child should enter primary school at six years, spend six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary, and another three years in senior secondary school, making the child 18 years old by the time they sit for UTME.”
The Minister also connected this policy to the theme of this year’s World Literacy Day, explaining that the policy supports learning in the mother tongue or the language of the immediate environment up to Primary 3 before English is introduced in subsequent years. “That has facilitated learning at that level because you can easily communicate,” he added.
This clarification aims to dispel confusion over recent misinterpretations of government statements about age limits for various national examinations.
