Atiku slams Tinubu’s ‘stone age’ education policy on age limits

RIPPLES NIGERIA

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has criticized the recently imposed age limit for admission into tetiary institutions by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) describing it as outdated, unconstitutional, and a disincentive to scholarship.

Atiku who kicked against the policy which bars students below the age of 18 from being admitted into the university, said the policy will undermine intellectual freedom and ignore the needs of gifted students.

In a statement posted on his official X handle on Wednesday, Atiku said the policy belongs to the stone ages and should be discarded.

“Tinubu’s policy on age limit for tertiary education admission belongs in the Stone Ages,” the former VP wrote.

“The recent policy of the Federal Ministry of Education pegging age limits for entry to tertiary institutions is an absurdity and a disincentive to scholarship.

“The policy runs foul of the notion of delineation of responsibilities in a federal system of government such as we are pratising, and gives a graphic impression of how the Tinubu government behaves like a lost sailor on a high sea.

“Otherwise, how is such anti-scholarship regulation the next logical step in the myriad of issues besetting our educational system?

“To be clear, the Nigerian constitution puts education in the concurrent list of schedules, in which the sub-national government enjoys more roles above the federal government.

“Therefore, it is extra-constitutional for the federal government to legislate on education in a manner similar to a decree.

“The best global standard for such regulation is to allow the sub-national governments to make respective laws or rules on education.