The Federal Government’s recent decision to remove Mathematics as a compulsory requirement for admission into arts and humanities courses has sparked nationwide debate — and rightly so.
Announced by the Federal Ministry of Education on October 14, 2025, the new guideline means candidates who wish to study subjects like English, Theatre Arts, Philosophy, or History will no longer need a credit in Mathematics to gain admission into Nigerian universities.
English however remains compulsory for all programmes, while Mathematics is still required for Science, Technology, and Social Science courses.
A welcome move for inclusion
I studied History and International Studies and I didn’t need a credit score in Mathematics to gain admission to study that course. This was in 2005. I guess as far back as 20 years ago, some universities or institutions of higher learning were already making the concession that the Federal government just ratified.
Why should a poor grade in Mathematics stop a student from studying Law, Linguistics, or Mass Communication? The argument is straightforward right?
Critics fear falling standards
However, not everyone is celebrating. Some of my class of 2002 FGGC Bakori girls are not celebrating, they believe the reform came 25 years late. On a more serious note, educationists, principals, and university lecturers have expressed concerns that removing Mathematics could weaken academic standards and produce graduates with poor numeracy skills. They argue that Mathematics is more than just numbers — it builds logic, reasoning, and analytical thinking, all of which are useful even in non-science fields.
As one retired school principal told Punch Newspapers, “We are not just teaching equations; we are teaching the discipline of thinking.” Others warn that arts graduates without basic numeracy may struggle in workplaces that now rely on data and technology, even in journalism, communication, and management roles.
I understand this argument because I am a classic example of needing numeracy skills even though I started my career in journalism. I started as a reporter with Next Newspapers. I have since stopped working with a publishing house with a physical newspaper. As important as a hard copy newspaper is, the data shows that more people consume their news via phones, laptops. These mediums, rely more on data and algorithms. It is the technology that caused my career to change thus needing the math’s skills to survive in the workplace. These days, I no longer write (hence the need for a personal blog), I work more with a spreadsheet.
The balance Nigeria needs
As much as this should be seen as an opportunity to improve admissions, I think art students not see this as an opportunity for laziness or to not even try. The certainty of failure, I think was one of the things that kept me from giving my best to the study of maths. Besides, I think some universities will still keep their own standards, like it was my case 20 years ago.
Both sides of the debate though, raise valid points. The reform promotes fairness and access, but it must not be mistaken for a license to lower academic quality. The solution lies in balance.
Rather than completely eliminating Mathematics from arts education, secondary schools and universities should introduce a foundational numeracy or quantitative reasoning course for arts students. Such courses can teach practical, everyday math skills — budgeting, statistics for social sciences, data interpretation — instead of abstract formulas. These were the things I had to learn in continuous education in my career (I wasn’t paying attention in secondary school). This is a more practical approach as the skills will be needed for every day life.
Beyond policy — fixing the root problem
It’s also worth asking why so many Nigerian students struggle with Mathematics in the first place. The problem often starts in secondary school, where poor teaching, fear in general (mathematics teachers were most feared) and outdated methods discourage learners early. If the government truly wants to make education inclusive, reform must go beyond admission policies to strengthen teacher training and modernise classroom instruction.
I have now come to love mathematics, not the quadratic equation type of math though but numbers and their ability to tell me a story, I enjoy that so much that I wonder now where my dread and trepidation for math came from.
The Ministry of Education should also monitor the effects of this new policy over the next few years. Are more students gaining admission? Are they performing well once in university? Has employability improved or declined? Only solid data can answer these questions and guide future adjustments.