Di Nigeria Ministry of Education on Tuesday announce new policy for students wey dey seek admission into university and dem tok say Mathematics no longer dey compulsory for Arts students.

For di statement by di ministry tok-tok pesin Folasade Boriowo, dem explain say di new guideline na to comot some unnecessary obstacles wey students dey face to access tertiary education and also to empower Nigerian youths.

Bifor now, secondary school leavers wey dey look for admission into any tertiary institution for Nigeria must to get at least five credits for im Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) including for English and Maths.

But wit dis new policy, Mathematics dey compulsory only for students wey wan study science or social science courses, while for Arts students get to only get credit for English and any oda four subjects wey dey related to di course wey dem choose.

Boriowo tok say di Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, no dey happy as many qualified candidates no dey able to secure university admission evri year.

"Evri year, over two million candidates dey take di Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) yet only about 700,000 dey gain admission," oga Alausa tok.

"Dis reform na deliberate effort to expand access to tertiary education, to create opportunity for additional 250,000 to 300,000 students to get admission into our Tertiary Institutions each year."

Details of di new guidelines

For Universities: Minimum of five credit passes for relevant subjects, including English Language, wey di student obtain for not more dan two sittings. Mathematics dey mandatory for Science, Technology, and Social Science courses.

For Polytechnics (ND Level): Minimum of four credit passes for relevant subjects, including English Language for non-science courses and Mathematics for science-related programmes.

For Polytechnics (HND Level): Minimum of five credit passes for relevant subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

For Colleges of Education (NCE Level): Minimum of four credit passes for relevant subjects, wit English Language mandatory for Arts and Social Science courses, and Mathematics dey required for Science, Vocational, and technical programmes.

For Colleges of Education (B.Ed Level): Minimum of five credit passes, including English Language and Mathematics, as e apply to di course of study.

For Innovation Enterprise Academies (IEAs): Dem go adopt di same minimum requirements as Polytechnics for di National Diploma (ND) programme. Di National Innovation Diploma (NID) don dey abolished.

Experts react to di policyMrs Lawrencia Okpara na retired secondary school teacher wey bin work under di Imo State Ministry of Education for 35 years, she tell BBC News Pidgin say di new policy na di right one, for her opinion.

"You know say Maths dey more important for science students," she tok. "But for di arts students, e no too dey important, and di fact say pesin no credit Maths no suppose deny di pesin admission."

Mrs Okpara tok say Arts students go still dey offer di subjects for Secondary School, so dat dem go benefit from di logical reasoning wey Math dey offer, but if for dia final exam dem no get credit for Maths, dem suppose still get admission bicos di subject no dey play much role for di career wey dem wan pursue.

Anoda academic wey tok to BBC News Pidgin on top dis mata, na Bernard Ehirim wey be PhD holder for plant science.

E say basic mathematics dey necessary for any area of study for di world, "bicos evritin for dis world dey based on calculations".

"Even if na dance or French pesin wan study, e require some basic knowledge of calculations. So Arts students no suppose avoid mathematics entirely, maybe if dem get D or E for dia SSCE, e suppose dey enuf," Dr Ehirim tok.

E say di idea of di Ministry of Education na good idea, but di implementation no suppose start for di SSCE level, "e suppose start for di junior secondary level wia students go dey identified according to dia interests and dia formators go channel dem appropriately".

"Pesin wey wan do core English Language for university, for instance, no suppose dey do di same level of mathematics for secondary school wey pesin wey wan study engineering dey do," Ehirim tok.

On top social media, comments also dey divided on weda mathematics suppose remain compulsory subject for evribodi or not.

One X user wey im name na August Chris, write: "Mathematics na fundamental and e suppose dey compulsory for all. Maths dey sharpen and broaden pesin logical reasoning. E dey ginger pesin brain and widen pesin thinking faculty, e dey help to facilitate pesin IQ level and increase pesin ability to solve problems."

Anoda pesin, Ogbeni Tunde, say: "E no get any reason for pesin wey wan express diasef trough canvas, music, dance or whateva, make e come dey deal wit algebra."



Nigeria Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa say many Nigerian students dey miss admission evri year sake of unnecessary obstacles