The Federal Government has announced its intention to discontinue the policy that separates the administration of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), describing the reform as structurally ineffective and a major contributor to Nigeria’s rising student dropout rates.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, made the disclosure on Tuesday in Abuja, stating that the policy, which established divided management structures for junior and senior levels, has fundamentally failed to achieve its intended educational objectives. According to the Minister, the separation has created unnecessary administrative bottlenecks, severely complicating the transition of students from junior to senior secondary school.
Expressing deep concern over the systemic failure, Dr. Alausa lamented that millions of students expected to naturally progress from JSS to SSS are dropping out of the system entirely, describing the massive educational leakage as completely unacceptable.
To formalize the policy reversal, the Minister has directed officials of the Federal Ministry of Education to immediately draft a comprehensive position paper. This document will be presented to the National Council on Education (NCE) to facilitate the formal review and eventual abolition of the disarticulation policy, paving the way for a more seamless secondary education structure.
In a related push to optimize educational infrastructure, Dr. Alausa also inaugurated a specialized committee tasked with ensuring that all government-funded Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools, and Alternative Schools across the country become fully operational.
The new committee has been mandated to aggressively accelerate project implementation, eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks, and ensure that these specialized institutions are properly completed, equipped, staffed, and opened for academic activities.
“Every completed school left unused represents lost opportunities for Nigerian children,” the Minister stressed.
Dr. Alausa issued a strict warning that no publicly funded educational facility should remain abandoned or underutilized. He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s target to make all Smart and Bilingual Schools fully operational before the end of the year, with a renewed strategic focus on driving measurable improvements in student learning outcomes nationwide.