The Federal Government has announced plans to phase out the policy separating Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) from Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), following findings that more than 20 million pupils dropped out of school before reaching the senior secondary level.
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.
According to the minister, the “disarticulation policy,” which created separate administrations, principals and facilities for JSS and SSS, has failed to achieve its intended objectives.
“We have 20 million dropouts from primary school to JSS. Where are those students? We also found that we have 80,000 public primary schools but only about 15,000 junior secondary schools. That’s a one-to-eight ratio,” Alausa said.
He explained that the disparity has resulted in overcrowded junior secondary schools while many senior secondary schools remain underutilised, citing Kaduna and several northern states as examples.
“This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out. We can’t be creating positions because we want to create director-level offices while harming our education system. It’s about doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” he added.
Alausa said the proposal to abolish the policy would be presented at the next meeting of the National Council on Education for consideration.
He noted that the reform is aimed at improving access to education and boosting learning outcomes, stressing the government’s commitment to reversing the country’s poor transition rates between school levels.
“This government will not fail. We are fixing it,” the minister said.
During the event, Alausa also inaugurated a committee chaired by Prof. Rashid Aderinoye to oversee the implementation of UBEC-funded Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools across the country.
The committee is tasked with ensuring that the projects are completed, handed over to state governments and opened for learning.
Although UBEC has invested in hundreds of such schools nationwide, the minister lamented that many remain unfinished or have yet to admit students, describing the situation as a waste of public resources.
Nigeria continues to have one of the world’s largest populations of out-of-school children, particularly in rural and conflict-affected communities. Education experts have repeatedly stressed that tackling the crisis requires not only building new schools but also ensuring completed facilities are fully operational, adequately staffed and accessible to learners.
