School Age Conundrum: Let Children Be Children…
Nigeria has been besieged by a rash of debates and echoes of sentiments from civil society organisations both real and phony since Tahir Mamman, the Minister of education reiterated that children younger than 18 would not be allowed to take university qualifying examination.
Nigeria is probably the most notorious country in the world for rushing children through school. This usually involves pushing kids to start school early or spirit them forward by skipping classes under the pretense that their children have superhuman intelligence. That’s never the case.
In countries like the United States, Germany, and England, university typically begins at age 18, coinciding with the age of maturity. This reflects a global consensus that higher education is for mature individuals who can confront the rigours of studies at that level.
I can understand why some Nigerian parents are upset about the minister’s stand, but we must consider the challenges our teachers face. If only parents know the struggles that our poorly remunerated teachers go through in dealing with parenting starved, emotionally unrefined and generally immature kids who lack proper parental guidance, we would support Tahir Mamman. Truth is, many of the children in higher education are often not ready or not prepared for the rigours of university life.
As Farooq Kperogi wisely pointed out in his last column, except in exceptional circumstances—which are rare—children younger than 18 should not be sent to university. Let children be children. They should not be rushed forced to grow too early. Children should not wrest from the bossom of their mothers when they should still be suckling milk, love, and sense. This is damaging the minds of young, making them easy targets for radicalisation, peer pressure and life on the fast line.
Nigerian parents have conspired to turn our education system into a factory of sorts, treating children like machines. Starting from age three, they are subjected to a relentless schedule: primary school from 8 AM to 1 PM, followed by lesson classes from 1 to 3, then Islamiyah some church activities from 4 to 6. When they return home, there’s homework waiting. The same routine is repeated the next day. No time to bond or scrutinise the performance or attention span of children.
There’s the weekend programmes too. This could include more lessons or all morning/all day Islamiyah or other religious activities.
This leaves no time for play or proper childhood development, stolen by overzealous, overambitious career-driven parents. This must stop.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, should stand firm on this issue. Children should start primary school at the appropriate age, ideally at five or six years old, with no skipping of classes unless they are proven to have exceptional intelligence. While we do have exceptionally gifted children, they are few and far between.
However, even this system can be problematic in Nigeria. From my experience, many Nigerian parents believe their children possess superhuman intelligence and will manipulate any system put in place for assessing exceptional kids.
The bottom line is clear: the universally accepted benchmark of 18 years for university entry should be maintained in Nigeria. This would be for our collective good, and the future of our children.
Onzonu writes from Eloyi Mba-odama in Nasarawa state.
