The Federal Government has announced plans to abolish the policy separating Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), saying the arrangement has contributed to increasing school dropout rates and inefficiencies in Nigeria’s education system.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the announcement on Tuesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee.
According to the minister, the policy requiring junior and senior secondary schools to operate independently—with separate principals and facilities—has not delivered the expected results and will be presented for review at the next meeting of the National Council on Education.
Alausa said the government’s decision was informed by alarming statistics showing millions of children are unable to transition successfully from primary to junior secondary education.
“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,” he said.
He explained that the imbalance has left many junior secondary schools overcrowded while numerous senior secondary schools remain underutilised.
Describing the current arrangement as ineffective, the minister insisted that the government’s priority is improving access to quality education rather than maintaining administrative structures.
“This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out. We can’t be creating positions because we want to create a director-level position for people while we harm our education system. It’s about doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” Alausa stated.
He added that the proposed reform is designed to strengthen the education system, improve student retention and deliver better learning outcomes across the country.
“We are fixing it,” the minister said.
During the event, Alausa also inaugurated a committee chaired by Professor Rashid Aderinoye to oversee the implementation of UBEC-funded Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools.
He said the committee has been tasked with ensuring the projects are completed, handed over to state governments and opened for academic activities.
The minister expressed concern that despite significant government investment in the projects, many of the schools remain unfinished or have not commenced operations, describing the situation as an unacceptable waste of public resources.
He stressed that the Federal Government is determined to ensure the facilities become fully functional and contribute to expanding access to quality education nationwide.
