(Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa. Photo Credit: Nation News)
The Federal Government on Tuesday announced plans to abolish the long-standing policy separating junior secondary schools from senior secondary schools after revealing that more than 20 million pupils are dropping out before reaching senior secondary education.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the policy, introduced to separate junior and senior secondary education into distinct administrative structures, had failed to achieve its objective and had instead worsened access to education across the country.
Alausa disclosed this in Abuja during the inauguration of the Universal Basic Education Commission Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee.
He said the decision followed evidence showing a huge gap between the number of primary schools and junior secondary schools nationwide, leaving millions of children unable to progress in their education.
“We have 20 million dropouts from primary school to junior secondary school. 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.
According to him, the shortage of junior secondary schools resulted in severe overcrowding while many senior secondary schools remained underutilised.
The JSS-SSS structure was introduced in 1982 as part of the National Policy on Education, often referred to as the 6-3-3-4 system, which was initially formulated in 1977.
The minister said, “This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out.
We can’t create 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 said the proposal to scrap the policy would be presented at the next meeting of the National Council on Education for approval, noting that the reform forms part of broader efforts to improve access to education and raise learning outcomes.
“This government will not fail. We are fixing it,” he said.
The announcement came as the minister raised fresh concerns over Nigeria’s deepening learning crisis, revealing that about three out of every four children at the basic education level are unable to read and understand an age-appropriate text by the age of 10.
Speaking later at the Federal Ministry of Education and Universal Basic Education Commission Roundtable Convening Meeting on Digital Resources Available to Achieve Learning Outcomes, Alausa described the country’s learning poverty rate as alarming.
“Learning poverty means that by the age of 10, a child cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text. In Nigeria today, three out of every four children are learning poor.
That is simply unacceptable,” he added.
He said the statistics underscored the need to urgently transform teaching and learning through digital technology. “We don’t have a choice. We have to use technology.
It is no longer feasible to continue to do things manually. Digital learning is the future, and we must deploy it to every part of the country, including the most rural communities,” he said.
The minister urged state governments to maximise the use of digital learning platforms already developed by the Federal Government, including the Nigeria Learning Passport, Inspire, Ignite, EduRevamp, E-Learn, the Greenfield Learning Management System and virtual classroom solutions.
According to him, the platforms provide curriculum-aligned lessons taught by some of the country’s best teachers and can help address shortages of qualified teachers in subjects such as Mathematics, English Language, Physics and Chemistry.
He explained that schools without subject teachers could connect learners to live or recorded virtual classes while allowing students to interact with teachers online.
Despite the investments, Alausa lamented that adoption of the platforms remained very low.
He disclosed that although the Nigeria Learning Passport currently has about 2.3 million users, the figure represents only a fraction of Nigeria’s estimated 67 million learners in primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools.
“This is still extremely low. We have invested significant resources in these platforms. If they are not used, then it becomes a wasted investment.
We cannot continue to suffer in the midst of plenty,” the minister added.
He commended the United Nations Children’s Fund for supporting the development of the Nigeria Learning Passport, noting that it sustained learning during the coronavirus pandemic and later supported children affected by insecurity and school closures.
The minister also inaugurated a ministerial implementation and monitoring committee chaired by Prof Rashid Aderinoye to oversee Universal Basic Education Commission-funded smart schools, bilingual schools and alternative schools across the country.
The committee is expected to ensure that the projects are completed, handed over to state governments and opened for learning.
Alausa lamented that despite huge public investment, many of the schools remain uncompleted or have yet to admit learners, describing the situation as an unacceptable waste of public resources.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Dr Aisha Garba, said technology had become indispensable for building an inclusive, resilient and future-ready education system.
She said the commission had established digital learning centres in primary and junior secondary schools, deployed smart interactive boards, strengthened education data systems and introduced digital monitoring and evaluation platforms.
Garba added that the commission had inaugurated Digital Champions to drive digital transformation and support state governments in implementing education technology initiatives.
According to her, technology alone cannot transform education without effective coordination, strong partnerships, sustained capacity building and the willingness of stakeholders to embrace innovation.
She expressed confidence that the collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Education, the Universal Basic Education Commission, state governments and development partners would accelerate the adoption of digital learning resources and improve learning outcomes nationwide.
Nigeria has one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world, with millions of school-age children particularly in rural, poor and conflict-affected communities still unable to access or complete basic education.
Education experts have long argued that weak transition rates from primary to junior secondary school, inadequate infrastructure, teacher shortages and insecurity continue to fuel the crisis.
The separation of junior secondary schools from senior secondary schools was introduced as part of reforms to the nation’s basic education system.
However, education stakeholders have repeatedly criticised the policy for creating administrative bottlenecks and limiting the progression of pupils, especially in areas where junior secondary schools are insufficient.
