Maths proficiency: Between global standards and individual needs

By : Iyabo Lawal

Date: 29 December 2025 5:07am WAT

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The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa

A policy proposal by the Federal Government to remove compulsory credit in Mathematics for admission to non-science and non-technical university courses has sparked a fierce nationwide debate. At the core of the conflict lies a fundamental question: Is mathematics the essential bedrock of critical thinking necessary for all higher education, or has it become an antiquated, discriminatory hurdle that unfairly disenfranchises millions of otherwise qualified students? IYABO LAWAL writes that the development pits the preservation of global academic standards and the pursuit of a STEM-focused future against the social needs of access, equity, and educational relevance.

For decades, a single line on a Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) result has been the gatekeeper, the stumbling block, and the ultimate decider for countless Nigerian students dreaming of a university education: a credit pass in Mathematics. This longstanding requirement, a cornerstone of admissions to the nation’s universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, has now been fundamentally altered.

In October 2025, the Federal Government announced sweeping reforms to tertiary education admission guidelines: Mathematics would no longer be a compulsory requirement for students seeking admission to Arts and Humanities courses.

The policy, unveiled by the Federal Ministry of Education under the leadership of Dr Tunji Alausa, was part of a broader effort to “democratise access to tertiary education” and address persistent barriers faced by thousands of admission seekers.

The announcement sparked a nationwide debate, drawing reactions from educators, students, policymakers, and civil society. While some hailed the move as progressive and inclusive, others warned it could erode academic standards and undermine Nigeria’s global competitiveness.

The reform was captured in the newly released National Guidelines for Entry Requirements into Nigerian Tertiary Institutions. Under the new framework, students applying to study Arts and Humanities no longer need a credit pass in Mathematics at the SSCE level to qualify for admission into universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.

However, the government later clarified that Mathematics remains compulsory for SSCE candidates, and the waiver applies strictly to admission requirements—not to the secondary school curriculum.

Additionally, Mathematics is only compulsory for courses where it is a prerequisite, as determined by the individual tertiary institutions and their regulatory bodies, such as the National Universities Commission (NUC).

Historically, Nigerian tertiary admission guidelines mandated that all candidates, regardless of chosen course, must possess at least five credit passes at SSCE, including Mathematics and English. This blanket requirement was intended to maintain a consistent academic baseline. However, education authorities observed that this policy disproportionately disadvantaged students applying for arts, humanities, and similar courses where Mathematics has minimal direct relevance.

The Federal Ministry of Education’s spokesperson, Folasade Boriowo, explained that the revised National Guidelines for Entry Requirements remove Mathematics as a compulsory subject for arts and humanities admissions, while retaining it for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and the social sciences.

The reform aims to increase equitable access to higher education by eliminating unnecessary barriers without compromising academic standards relevant to specific disciplines.

Proponents argued that Mathematics, while crucial for STEM-related courses, does not hold substantial practical value for many arts and humanities disciplines—such as literature, history, law, language studies, and the creative arts.

They contend that insisting on credit in Mathematics unfairly blocks capable students who excel in relevant subjects but struggle with numerical concepts unrelated to their academic and career goals. Many argue that requiring Mathematics for non-STEM courses is unnecessary.

“What does it add to someone studying Theatre Arts or Linguistics?” asked a university lecturer during a panel discussion on Arise News. The reform aligns admission requirements more closely with the actual demands of the chosen field.

Education analyst Ayodamola Oluwatoyin praised the reform as a “brilliant move” that removes unnecessary obstacles and could expand admission opportunities for thousands of students each year, particularly those with strong performance in English, government, religious studies, and economics.

Removing compulsory Mathematics aligns admission requirements more closely with the disciplines’ demands, reducing frustration and fostering inclusion.

Additionally, advocates emphasised that the reform does not entail lowering standards, but rather refining them to reflect course-specific requirements.

Entry pathways for engineering, medicine, computer science, and related areas still require Mathematics, ensuring competency where it truly matters. This targeted approach, supporters claim, balances access with maintaining the academic rigour necessary for professional and scientific fields.

“We have lost a generation of brilliant writers, artists, philosophers, and lawyers at the altar of Mathematics,” argued Dr Adeola Samuel, a lecturer in the Department of Linguistics at a federal university in the South-West.

“I have seen students with exceptional talent in language, with profound analytical skills in literature, who have been stuck at home for years, not because they cannot think, but because they failed to get a C6 in Mathematics. How does solving a quadratic equation make you a better historian? It is a pointless barrier.”

This sentiment is echoed by countless students and parents. Chiamaka Nwosu, a prospective Law student who has struggled with Mathematics, sees the policy as a lifeline.

“I have had my admission deferred twice because of Mathematics. I have As in English Literature, History, and Government. My understanding of legal principles is strong. Why should my entire future be held hostage by a subject that has no bearing on my chosen career? This policy is a game-changer; it recognises that intelligence is not monolithic.”

Supporters further contended that the old policy was a form of systemic injustice. They point out that students from under-resourced rural schools, where quality Mathematics teachers are a rarity, were disproportionately affected.

The compulsory requirement, they argued, deepened educational inequality, favouring urban elites who could afford private tutoring.

“This is not about lowering standards; it is about smartening them,” says Bala Ikhemuemhe, an educational policy analyst.

“It is about creating a system that assesses relevance. A student applying for Music should be judged on their musical and creative abilities, not their proficiency in Calculus. The global best practice is moving towards contextualised admissions, and Nigeria is, for once, taking a pragmatic step forward.”

According to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), over 30 per cent of candidates fail Mathematics yearly, making it one of the most significant barriers to tertiary admission.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that Arts and Humanities account for nearly 40 per cent of tertiary enrolment, suggesting that the reform could impact a large segment of students.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Global Education Monitoring Report underlines the importance of foundational numeracy for lifelong learning and civic engagement.

The policy has faced sharp criticism from some educators and academic leaders who warned against lowering educational standards.

Alexander Obadimu, President of the Association of Retired Principals of Secondary Schools, Ogun State chapter, described the decision as “not well thought out” and cautioned that it may encourage academic complacency and undermine Nigeria’s tradition of strong foundational education.

Obadimu and others argued that Mathematics fosters critical thinking and analytical skills essential to all fields of study, including the arts, where research, logic, and reasoning are vital.

They expressed fears that removing Mathematics as a compulsory subject could create graduates lacking intellectual rigour, thereby weakening the nation’s future workforce and academic competitiveness in a global context increasingly focused on STEM education.

Moreover, some educators doubt the reform’s sustainability, anticipating that some institutions may continue to insist on Mathematics credit regardless, or that inconsistencies in enforcement could create confusion, undermining policy effectiveness.

They warned that removing Mathematics from admission criteria could lower academic standards.

“Because you want to make admission easy, you lower the bar,” said a secondary school principal in Lagos. Critics argue that basic numeracy is essential for logical reasoning, budgeting, and data interpretation, even in non-STEM fields.”

Prof. Adebayo Oladele, a retired Dean of Sciences, argued that lowering the requirement is akin to removing the essential scaffolding from a building. “You are not just teaching calculus; you are teaching rigour,” he noted. “When you accept a candidate who has not demonstrated this basic level of numerical and analytical rigour, you are lowering the standard of the entire tertiary system. We are essentially giving a pass to mental laziness.”

Nigeria faces significant educational challenges. With over two million candidates sitting for the national Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) yearly, only about 700,000 secure admissions due to capacity constraints and competitive filtering.

The mathematics requirement acted as a bottleneck, especially impacting students aspiring to humanities and arts courses.

The reform thus addresses a long-standing dissonance between rigid admission criteria and educational reality. It is an attempt to broaden access while preserving course relevance.

However, Nigeria’s education system continues to grapple with broader issues of inadequate funding (below seven per cent of the national budget), infrastructure deficits, frequent academic disruptions, and quality assurance challenges.

Education experts cautioned that the move is out of step with global standards. In most countries, mathematics remains a core requirement for tertiary education across disciplines.

“This reform could isolate Nigerian graduates from international academic and professional opportunities,” said Dr Adebayo Ogunleye, an education consultant.

Internationally, the debate resonates with wider discussions about curriculum relevance and flexibility. Many countries differentiate entry requirements by discipline, recognising that one-size-fits-all approaches may hinder talent development and institutional efficiencies.

When comparing Nigeria’s stance to international standards, the picture is complex.

In many parts of the United States, students applying to liberal arts colleges do not face a mandatory, high-stakes final mathematics exam comparable to the SSCE credit exam.

Admissions are more holistic. However, students in the U.S. and United Kingdom systems are typically required to take mathematics courses through age 16 (or beyond for technical fields).

Furthermore, their systems often rely on standardised college entrance exams (SAT/ACT), which have significant quantitative reasoning components, thus maintaining the analytical skills benchmark.

Nigeria’s system, without a strong, universally applied, standardised aptitude test like the SAT, relies solely on the SSCE results.

By removing the mathematics credit, the country will seem to have eliminated its only major quantifiable analytical benchmark for admission, making the argument that it is against global standards highly persuasive in the absence of a comprehensive replacement assessment.

A potential pragmatic middle ground has emerged amidst the hue and cry over the mandatory mathematics credit, centred on the distinction between basic numerical literacy and advanced mathematical skills.

Many stakeholders agreed that completely eliminating mathematics as an entry requirement would be unwise, as it would risk creating a generation incapable of managing personal finances or interpreting simple statistics. Instead, they advocated a staggered reform grounded in two main principles.

First, differentiated requirements by course proposes that the mandate be course-specific: while a mandatory credit would remain for all STEM, engineering, architecture, finance, accounting, and pure science programmes, the requirement for law, languages, and humanities could be lowered to a basic pass (D7/E8) or replaced entirely by a new quantitative reasoning subject focused on logic, basic statistics, and financial literacy.

This includes the view that maintaining the minimum C6 standard should be sufficient for general competence, avoiding the need for high A or B grades.

Second, the integration of mathematics in tertiary education suggests that, instead of using it as an admissions barrier, universities could be required to integrate a mandatory foundational quantitative skills course for all first-year non-STEM students, focusing on real-world applications such as budgeting and market data interpretation, thereby ensuring data literacy without blocking initial admission.

This moderate approach effectively increases access for passionate students while mitigating the risk of lowering the national standard for critical thinking.

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