The Federal Government has said Mathematics was a compulsory subject for all students sitting for O-Level examinations.
This came barely a week after the government said the subject was no longer compulsory for Art students.
Recall that in a press statement issued by spokesperson of the Federal Ministry of Education, Boriowo Folashade, on Tuesday, the scribe had announced that senior secondary school students in the arts and humanities would no longer be required to present a credit pass in Mathematics in their Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE, for tertiary admissions.
Boriowo had stated that the reform became necessary after years of restricted access, which denied many qualified candidates admission opportunities.
She had said while over two million candidates sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination annually, only about 700,000 gain admission.
But in the new statement issued yesterday, Boriowo said the new admission guidelines didn’t exempt any candidate from registering and sitting for Mathematics.
“All students must continue to register and sit for English Language and Mathematics in their O-Level examinations,” the statement read.
The statement added that while institutions might now admit candidates into certain programmes where credit passes in either English or Mathematics were not mandatory, students were still required to take both subjects during their O-Level exams.
“This adjustment affects only admission criteria, not the requirement to take these subjects,” she clarified.
According to the statement, the reform supports the federal government’s vision of equitable access, inclusivity and human capital development.
“English and Mathematics remain vital tools for communication, reasoning and lifelong learning,” the ministry noted.
It also urged students, parents and stakeholders to rely solely on official communication channels for verified policy updates
Asked if the new development meant a U-turn on the earlier stance of the ministry, Boriowo said: ”No, no U-turn, it’s a clarification on the streamlined admission requirements to expand access to tertiary education, please.”