The Federal Government has announced plans to scrap the policy separating Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) from Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), citing evidence that more than 20 million pupils drop out before progressing to the senior secondary level.
The 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 policy, which requires junior and senior secondary schools to operate separately under different principals and with separate facilities, has failed to achieve its intended goals.
According to him, findings by the ministry revealed a significant gap between the number of primary schools and junior secondary schools nationwide, contributing to the high dropout rate.
“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.
The minister noted that the disparity has led to overcrowded junior secondary schools while many senior secondary schools remain underutilised, particularly in Kaduna and other northern states.
Declaring the policy ineffective, Alausa said the government would begin phasing it out in the interest of improving access to education.
“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.
He added that the proposal would be presented at the next meeting of the National Council on Education for consideration.
Alausa said the policy change is part of broader efforts to improve access to education and learning outcomes, expressing confidence that the current administration would address longstanding challenges affecting school enrolment and progression.
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