The Federal Government has revealed plans to scrap the separation of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), describing the arrangement as a major factor behind the high number of students dropping out of school
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed the plan on Tuesday in Abuja while inaugurating the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee.
He said findings by the ministry showed that over 20 million children fail to continue their education after primary school, blaming the trend on the structure of the current education system.
“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.
The minister noted that the limited number of junior secondary schools has led to overcrowding in many classrooms, while several senior secondary schools, especially in Kaduna and other northern states, are operating below capacity.
According to him, maintaining separate administrations and facilities for JSS and SSS has not achieved the desired results.
“This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out. We can’t be creating positions because we want to create a director level for people while we harm our education system. It’s about doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” he said.
Alausa stated that the proposal to end the policy will be tabled at the next meeting of the National Council on Education for consideration.
He added that the reform is intended to make secondary education more accessible and ensure that more students transition successfully into senior secondary school.
“This government will not fail. We are fixing it,” Alausa said.
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