With a score of 347, 14-year-old Franklin Ekene Ezeunala made the best result in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). But his age may be a hindrance in his admission bid. The eligible age for admission is 16. Should he be denied admission because of age? KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE sought experts’ views.
Fourteen-year-old Ekene Franklin Ezuelana did not need to check his Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result because of his outstanding performance. It was announced by Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede last Saturday.
Ekene, a Senior Secondary School Three (SS3) pupil of Meiran Community Secondary School, Lagos, scored 347 in the test – the highest in the country. His lowest score in the four subjects he took was 78 in English language. He scored 91 in Mathematics, 86 in Physics and 92 in Chemistry.
Sixteen year-old Igban Emmanuel Chidiebube made the second best score of 346; Oluwo Isaac Olamilekan, 17, was the third with 345.
With such feat, Ekene should ordinarily not have a problem gaining admission into his school of first choice, University of Lagos (UNILAG). But his age is a snag to his entering the university. At 14, he is below 16 – the approved age for university admission. Although he will 15 before universities resume in September, he will still not be be eligible for admission because of his age.
Ekene will turn 15 on May 27 – the day designated as Children’s Day. He is not the first under-aged student to apply to UNILAG. Last year’s overall best candidate in the UTME, Orisheneye Okorogheye David, was 15 when he applied to study Medicine at the university.
Orisheneye scored 332 in the 2018 UTME and made nine A1 in the 2018 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), as a pupil of Starfield College, Iju, Lagos. He was denied admission by UNILAG on the basis of age.
The 16-year-old age limit is part of JAMB’s guidelines for candidates applying for admission into tertiary institutions.
In the introductory note of the JAMB 2017 Brochure for Degree-Awarding Institutions available on the board’s website (https://www.jamb.gov.ng/brochure.aspx), Paragraph Three under Section One Sub-section One titled: “Important Points to note”, states that: “A candidate must have attained the age of sixteen (16) years or would have done so on the first day of October in the year of his/her candidature.”
UNILAG also reiterates this requirement under the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on admissions on its website.
The question, which is the second on the list, reads: “What is the minimum age UNILAG admits?” The response follows: “The minimum age is sixteen (16) years by 31st October of the admission year.”
Mrs Chinelo Ezeunala said her family was not aware of the age requirement when Ekene was registering for the UTME. She noted that UNILAG was their first choice of school because of its proximity, adding that given his age, they did not want him to school far from home.
“That is what we are just hearing o!” she said to The Nation when asked about the under-age factor. I did not know before. It was when the result came out that we heard that UNILAG does not accept students younger than 16. We would have preferred UNILAG because of his age. We chose the school so that he would not be far from home,” said Mrs Ezeunala, a Chemistry teacher at Hightree College, Berger.
When asked if her son would take the scholarship offer by Chief Gregory Ibe, Chancellor of Gregory University, a private university in Uturu, Abia State, Mrs Ezeunala said she would have to discuss with her husband.
“I have not heard of the scholarship. I cannot say for now if he will take it. The dad is still alive and we would decide as a family. We are not really well off and we cannot afford private university fees.”
But she added: “If it is a full scholarship, my opinion is: ‘Why not?’”
Mrs Ezeunala said she was not worried about Ekene’s ability to cope with academic and social life on campus.
“I know him; he can cope. He is matured in his mind,” she said.
Ekene, on his part, is okay with whatever the law says.
“I feel that since that is the law, I have no choice but to abide by the law,” he said, adding that the decision to take the Gregory University offer would be taken by his parents.
Read also: I targeted 370, says UTME best Ekene
However, if he has to go to the university early, Ekene does not think it would be a challenge.
“I do not think I will have any challenges,” he said.
An education specialist, Mrs Dideolu Adekogbe, also believes that the law should be obeyed. Mrs Adekogbe, who is campaigning that six years of primary education should be sacrosanct as against usual private school practice of four or five years, said it was okay if Ekene was not admitted by UNILAG on the basis of age because it is the law.
“It is right because the law says you have to get university by 16. It was the same case with a young boy too who scored high marks last year and made nine As, but was not accepted into UNILAG.
“Since the boy was not accepted last year, the same rule should apply this year. It would be unfair to accept this boy,” she said.
Mrs Adekogbe said parents should learn to obey the law and follow the stipulated years for primary and secondary education. She said rushing children usually had negative consequences. She added that many pupils under aged by the end of their secondary education did not go through six years of primary school.
In Ekene’s case however, it was not that he did not do primary six but was offered promotions twice, which accelerated his primary school education.
When asked about the cases of child prodigies, Mrs Adekogbe said Nigeria had not developed a system to identify and educate gifted children. She said the system once put in place was bastardised.
“In Nigeria we don’t have provision for geniuses. If someone sponsors the boy abroad, maybe he can go to school there.
“There was once a provision for geniuses – special students like that. But the Nigerian factor came into being, so it couldn’t hold; it was rubbished – you know the quota system and religion criteria came in and everything went down,” she said.
However, Dr Ibe, who offered Ekene and Chidiebube scholarship to the university, disagrees that highflying candidates who are less than 16, should be denied university admission.
In a statement signed by Public Relations Officer of the university, Ogbonnaya Ogwo, Ibe condemned “the negative attitude of unwittingly slowing down the academic progress of intellectually endowed children” and called for the removal of age barriers placed before them. He noted that after being rejected, a Nigerian, Miss Simiat Abimbola Owo-Alade, graduated in medical sciences in India at 23.
In an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ibe also noted that two of his children graduated as medical doctors aged less than 22 in the United States – evidence that they started at 15.
Director of Studies, Starfied Educational Centre Ltd, Mr Christopher Eigbe, lamented that a second highflier may be stopped this year like David was last year.
“David has decided to go for A Levels at a school in Lekki. The policy of not admitting gifted or brilliant children on the basis of age is retrogressive and should be changed. This is one of the issues holding this country down and preventing productive growth and good human resources development. Highfliers must be allowed to soar and not perch on a tree,” he said.
In western countries like the United Kingdom and the United States, school age entry is five. In both countries, the age of entry into the university is usually from 18. However, younger people have also been noted to have been admitted based on their performance.
Parents and educators debated Ekene’s issue on the Concerned Parents and Educators (CPE) network Facebook group. While some think the 16-year old bar should not be tampered with, others argue that younger children should be given a chance to go to the university.
Emenalo Onyejiji Schola faulted JAMB for allowing Ekene to write the UTME when it was clearly not allowed.
“Why was the application accepted by JAMB? He could have been disqualified based on age. They should keep this result for him till next year if he is not going to be admitted this year,” she said.
Another CPE member, Ifeanyi Anacleth Anele called for his admission to be deferred.
“Can’t their admissions be deferred until the required age? These are rare breeds in the society. They are geniuses,” he said
Another person, Sarah Igwe, said Nigeria may lose its best brains this way.
“This is why children like this will travel out of the country and never return. Who says 15 is too young? Go and google the youngest professor of mathematics in the world, he became a professor at 17,” she said.
However, some others said parents were too impatient to allow their wards mature before getting into the university.
“In the U. S you graduate from high school at age 18. Not 15 as we have in Nigeria… Later we’ll be wondering why we’re backward,” commented Flakkie Misan.
Morenike Odutayo advised parents of under aged high school graduates to allow them spend time learning other skills before going to the university.
“My advice is if your child falls below the age limit for admission into tertiary institution in Nigeria that child can have a gap year during which they can explore by acquiring skills, learn a languages – both foreign and local. Life will not end if they go to university at 16 or 20,” she said.
In western countries like the United Kingdom and the United States, school age entry is five. In both countries, the age of entry into the university is usually from 18. However, younger people have also been admitted based on their performance.
Nigerian British Maths prodigy, Esther Okade, is one of the child prodigies who made university at the age of 10. She enrolled at the Open University, UK. Now 13 and studying Financial Maths, she told CNN that she wants to earn a PhD before 14.
“I want to (finish the course) in two years. I want to have my own bank by the time I am 15 because I like numbers and I like people and banking is a great way to help people,” she said.
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