The Federal Government has announced plans to abolish the separation of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) in a major education reform aimed at tackling Nigeria’s worsening out-of-school children crisis.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed the decision on Tuesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee, saying the existing policy has failed to achieve its purpose and has contributed to the country’s high dropout rate.
According to the minister, more than 20 million Nigerian children fail to progress from primary school to junior secondary school, making the current system unsustainable.
“We have 20 million dropouts from primary school to JSS. Where are those students? We also found we have 80,000 public primary schools and only about 15,000 junior secondary schools. That’s a one-to-eight ratio,” Alausa said.
He explained that the shortage of junior secondary schools has left many pupils without access to continued education, while the few available facilities are overcrowded and many senior secondary schools remain underutilised, particularly in Kaduna and several northern states.
Describing the policy as unsuccessful, Alausa said the Federal Government would begin phasing it out in the interest of improving access to education for every Nigerian child.
“This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out. We can’t be creating positions because we want to create a director-level office while harming our education system. It’s about doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” he stated.
The minister said the proposal would be presented before the National Council on Education for approval, noting that the reform is expected to improve the transition of pupils from one level of education to another and boost learning outcomes nationwide.
He expressed confidence that the administration would reverse years of decline in the education sector, saying, “This government will not fail. We are fixing it.”
Alausa also inaugurated a committee chaired by Prof. Rashid Aderinoye to monitor UBEC-funded Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools across the country.
The committee is expected to ensure that the projects are completed, handed over to state governments and opened to learners, following concerns that many of the schools remain abandoned or have yet to admit students despite huge public investment.
Nigeria continues to have one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world, with millions of children, especially in rural and conflict-affected communities, still unable to access formal education.
Education experts say improving access will require not only building more schools but ensuring that completed facilities are fully operational, adequately staffed and accessible to every child.
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FG moves to end JSS-SSS split as 20 million children leave school, School
