Too young to step into the Ivory Tower
But not too young to beat everyone else!
What’s really the point of age restriction in public university admissions? Do we also have similar restrictions for primary and post-primary admissions? If yes, why are they not matched? In other words, why admit a child into a post primary school if he/she will not be age-qualified on completion to be admitted into the tertiary institution? Worse still, why allow him/her sit for JAMB exams if he/she will not be admitted on grounds of age? To decorate his mother’s bedroom with the result? It’s more like allowing a child pay the gate fee for admission into a hall and disallowing him from entering on grounds of age.
Does it mean we don’t have provisions for child prodigies? If the law is made to protect young Nigerians, ie by allowing them attain sufficient maturity before entering the higher institution, why does it not apply to private institutions? Are they not meant for Nigerians? There are too many things to streamline in this country. And many of them are quite simple. I learnt Wole Soyinka entered secondary school at 9. That means he must have completed at 14. I would like to know what happened to him after that.
I know many people who entered university in other countries at 13, 14 and those countries are doing better than us. It is even doubtful if all public institutions in Nigeria observe the outdated age rule. Some Nigerians have been admitted into Nigerian public universities at 15 and went on to graduate. The amazing young ones should better be admitted into the universities of their choice. Delay can turn out to be dangerous. They may never regain the momentum and may become unduly influenced if such brilliant kids do not have sufficiently challenging goals before them absorbing their youthful energy.
It sounds unfair to tell them that they are too young to grow when they are already taller than all others.
