The Federal Government has banned underage children from participating in the National Common Entrance Examination for admission into the Unity Schools across the country.
The government has directed the National Examination Council (NECO) to put strict measures in place to prevent underage persons from registering for the examination, including making birth certificates compulsory as registration requirements.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Andrew Adejo, gave the directive in Abuja while monitoring the conduct of the 2023 Common Entrance Examination into the 110 Federal Government Colleges across the Federation.
A total of 72,821 candidates sat for the examination nationwide.
Adejo said, as part of the requirement to get into secondary school, a candidate should be at least 12 years, adding that one could be eleven plus during the examination and by September, such a person would have attained the age of 12 years.
He insisted that less than eleven years was unacceptable, disclosing that Airforce Schools, among others, do not accept candidates less than twelve years for admission into their schools.
He also noted that the efforts of the Federal Government and other stakeholders in encouraging girls education are yielding fruit, saying the number of girls that registered for the Common Entrance Examination this year is 38,000 far above the previous years.
Registrar of NECO, Dantani Wushishi said the conduct of the examination was generally smooth and orderly, saying from the reports gotten from across the country, the examination went on hitch-free.
While confirming that 72,821 candidates registered for the 2023 National Common Entrance Examination, Wushishi disclosed that Lagos State had the highest number of enrollment followed by FCT.
He noted that the Council would put in place a mechanism to check some of the noticeable gaps caused by an upsurge in registration a day before the examination.
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