Under 15 secondary school leavers are ill-equipped
to cope with social and psychological pressures associated with after school
life, an educationist, Mrs Anastasia Okobi, said on Friday.“Under-15 young
people still need to be tutored, guided and cultivated in many aspects of adult
life.“They are still not mature enough to deal with relationship issues with
the opposite sex, and independence that after school life brings.“It is
worse-off if an early school leaver gets admission into university; he or she
easily can derail from the objective of the admission due to immaturity,’’
Okobi said.The retired Deputy Director in the Lagos State Teaching Service said
that many Nigerian students were in classes not appropriate for their ages.
She said that school leaving below age 14 was in
the increase in Lagos State.“Our model colleges in Lagos are overwhelmed by
seven-year-old pupils in the first year of junior school.“This means that by
13, these students will leave secondary school and may get admitted into
university a year or two later.“The truth is that the high rate of delinquency
in the country can be linked to the immaturity of young people,’’ she said.
The educationist
condemned the attitude of parents who encouraged their children to falsify
their ages so as to get university or college admission.She called on
governments, teachers and parents to discourage students from finishing
secondary education before age 15.According to her, those who design curricula
and learning modules do so after considering ages and the society’s level of
advancement.
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