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.
News Point Nigeria reports that the 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, describing the long-standing “disarticulation policy” as a failed reform that has negatively impacted access to education.
Alausa explained that the policy, which required Junior Secondary Schools and Senior Secondary Schools to operate separately with different principals and facilities, had failed to achieve its intended objectives.
“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,” the minister said.
He noted that the imbalance between the number of primary and junior secondary schools has resulted in overcrowded JSS facilities 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 a director level for people while we harm our education system. It’s about doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” Alausa added.
The minister disclosed that the proposal to abolish the policy would be presented at the next meeting of the National Council on Education for consideration.
According to him, the policy shift is aimed at expanding access to education and improving learning outcomes across the country.
Alausa acknowledged previous shortcomings in addressing the low transition rate from primary to secondary education but expressed confidence that the current administration would reverse the trend.
“This government will not fail. We are fixing it,” he said.
At the same event, the minister 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 was tasked with ensuring that the projects are completed, handed over to state governments and opened for learning.
Although the Universal Basic Education Commission has invested in hundreds of such schools nationwide, Alausa lamented that many projects remain unfinished or have yet to admit learners, 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, with millions of school-age children—particularly those living in rural and conflict-affected communities still lacking access to formal education.