Why are you in support of the 18-year benchmark for university admission?

I am in support of the 18-year benchmark because of the advantages it offers Nigeria’s educational system and the benefits that await graduates who get admitted into the university at the age of consent. Let me elaborate by explaining what I mean by the benefits it offers Nigeria’s educational system. When students gain admission at the age of 18, they are mentally mature to conduct themselves in a manner that supports good behaviour on campus. They are mentally ripped to make decisions that will assist them in receiving training in character and learning. They can discern good from bad. They appreciate the opportunity of university admission and desire to make the best out of it. However, the reverse becomes the case when they gain admission earlier than the age of 18. Such children move from a controlled environment to a completely uncontrolled environment, thus making them vulnerable to joining bad groups. Students admitted before the age of 18 years are too young to appreciate the opportunities that come with a university education. For many of them, when they begin to realise that they are taking the wrong direction, it is already too late and some hardly recover afterwards.

How would you describe the below 18 years students on campus; character, coping mechanism, academic performance, etc?

I will try to avoid over-generalisation. However, the majority of the below 18-year-old students on campus do not conduct themselves in manners that are consistent with their status as undergraduates. Some of them moved from senior secondary school to university, so they still exhibit behaviours that are associated with secondary school children. Students who gain admission before the age of 18 display a low capacity to cope with the mental rigours that are associated with university education. In the area of academic performance, I will say that some of the exceptional ones may continue to do well, while those who were average or below average and who require more time to develop before coming to the university may be denied the opportunity. There are also cases of students who were doing well during their secondary school years, but, because they quickly rushed to the university, they were not able to cope. I know of a 17-year-old student who went from being a star in his secondary school to dropping out of university. There is a case of a student I am currently managing. He was admitted at the age of 16 years into the university, and immediately after getting to campus, he was influenced to start consuming illicit drugs, right now, we are struggling to save his life. This is just one case out of many. There is also another one, though still in school, who stopped attending classes and stopped paying school fees. I later learnt that someone promised her that they were going to give her a certificate at the end of four years. I do not know her story right now, but the last I knew, she did not graduate.

Why do you think they can’t cope with the rigour of higher institutions if they come in before 18?

Like I said earlier, the majority of them cannot cope. Before 18 years, they are yet to define their purpose in life. They are yet to understand the meaning of life. Therefore, they will not cope. They are not mentally prepared to handle the pressure that comes with university admission. They cannot cope. They are rather too tender to understand what it means to be in the university. Let me say here that some of the students who have academic challenges are not intellectually unsound, but their brains are not fully developed enough for a university education. University admission is a big opportunity, and it takes a student who understands this to successfully make use of the opportunity. I have seen many instances where very brilliant students fail courses. Not because the lecturer wanted them to fail but because they treated certain issues with levity as a result of their young age.

Are there ways these below 18-year-old students make your work as a lecturer challenging?

Yes, there are many ways that students below the age of 18 years make my work difficult. First, they hardly comply with instructions. This is common with those of them from rich homes who probably attended schools where the teachers were afraid of their (the student’s parents) parents. When you give them instructions, they think you are joking. To them, everything is a joke. Another funny aspect is that students who are too young easily involve their parents in their school issues, even when such issues are minor. I had a case of a student who reported to the parents that the lecturer refused to collect his assignment. He did not tell the parents that the lecturer refused because the assignment was submitted after the expiration of the time allowed for the assignment. It was when the mother came to confront the lecturer that she realised the reason for the refusal. Some of the underage also complain of stress and overload, because they are exposed to educational tasks that they should have been exposed to at a later stage in their lives. All these make the job difficult for lecturers.

With the challenges of unpredictable ASUU strikes, don’t you think they will spend longer time in school?

No, I do not think so, because ASUU strikes do not last forever. They come and go. Parents need to stop rushing their children and using the ASUU strike as a reason. Children require time to develop and become ready for a university education. Parents should not think that when children graduate early, they stand a better chance of being successful, it is not true. I have a colleague who gained admission for his first degree when he was already married and had children. He graduated with a First-Class degree and was employed by the university. After that, he proceeded to his master’s and doctoral degrees and earned them in record time. Today, he is about to be made an associate professor and I am sure soon, he will become a full professor and he will still have sufficient time to serve as a professor before retirement. If a child develops and practices good values of hard work, consistency, determination, honesty, and dedication, gaining admission into the university at the age of 18 will even help the child to concentrate and advance his or her career.

Grace Edema
The PUNCH Senior Correspondent, Grace, has over 17 years experience covering education, arts, business and health sectors. She’s a graduate of Sociology