A university lecturer, Stella Aririguzuh, says banning under-18 students from sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) will lead to capital flight.

Ms Aririguzuh, who is the Head, Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University at Ota in Ogun, stated this on Wednesday while speaking with journalists in Sango-Ota.

The don was reacting to the federal government’s move to ban students under 18 from sitting for WASSCE and the one conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO).

She said the proposed policy by the federal government would force Nigerians to send their children to overseas countries for further studies.

“More parents will send their children to schools outside Nigeria, further depleting our resources,” Ms Aririguzuh said.

She explained that the policy would kill the zeal of students to push themselves to achieve more in their younger days.

Ms Aririguzuh, however, noted that the advantage of the policy was that the country would have matured students coming into the universities.

The minister of education, Tahir Mamman, had Sunday said the federal government had given directives to both the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and NECO on this.

He said they are to stop those below 18 years from writing their examinations.

(NAN)