The Federal Government has announced plans to abolish the policy separating Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) from Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), describing the arrangement as a major contributor to Nigeria’s worsening out-of-school crisis.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee.
Alausa said the decision followed findings showing that over 20 million Nigerian children drop out between primary school and junior secondary school, blaming the failed policy for poor transition rates and inadequate access to secondary education.
“We have 20 million dropouts from primary school to JSS. Where are those students? We also found we have about 80,000 public primary schools but only around 15,000 junior secondary schools. That’s a one-to-eight ratio,” the minister said.
According to him, the disparity has resulted in overcrowded junior secondary schools while many senior secondary schools remain underutilised, particularly in states across Northern Nigeria.
Declaring the policy a failure, Alausa said the government would seek its formal abolition at the next meeting of the National Council on Education.
“This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out. We can’t continue creating administrative positions at the expense of our education system. What matters is doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” he stated.
The minister said the policy reversal is aimed at improving access to education, boosting transition from primary to secondary school and reducing the country’s alarming number of out-of-school children.
“This government will not fail. We are fixing it,” he added.
Alausa also inaugurated a committee headed by Prof. Rashid Aderinoye to monitor the implementation of UBEC-funded Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools across the country.
He lamented that despite huge investments by the Federal Government, many of the schools remain uncompleted or have yet to commence academic activities.
“It is unacceptable that projects funded with public resources are left idle while millions of Nigerian children remain out of school,” he said.
Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children globally, with millions—particularly in rural and conflict-affected communities—still without access to quality education.
