Don Hails FG Over 16-Year Minimum Requirement For Varsity Admission

By IGE ADEKUNLE

PROFESSOR Tunde Akanni, a don, has commended the Federal Government for reintroducing the 16-year age limit for admission into the country’s universities.

Akanni gave the commendation while speaking on the sidelines of the Graduation and Prize Giving Ceremony of Adedokun International Schools on Saturday at Iyana-Iyesi, Ota.

According to Akanni, a Professor of Journalism and Communication with Lagos State University (LASU), the policy is not a bad or new idea in the education sector.

He described the re-introduction of the policy as a welcome development, saying that it would help universities to admit mature students.

“The reality is that people hardly see underage students in universities abroad.

“But in Nigeria, there are quite a lot of underage students who cannot function on their own.

“Also, if a student cannot live independently as an undergraduate, that mean he/she is not fit for university programme,” he said.

Akanni noted that a number of underage students, if not the brilliant or gifted ones, hardly function independently.

According to him, university education is a level of education where students are being prepared for adult life.

He admonished parents against being in a hurry for their children to get admission into the university, maintaining that this would not help them in the future.

The don also called on governments at all levels to strengthen their communication mechanisms by constituting special teams dedicated to social campaigns, monitoring and evaluation.

This, he said, would help in checking abuse of social media, particularly among the youth.

It was reported that the federal government had, on 16 July, announced 16 years as the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions in the country.

(NAN)