The Federal Government has debunked reports indicating that it has scrapped Junior Secondary School (JSS) and Senior Secondary School (SSS) in favour of a new 12-year uninterrupted basic education model.
Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Olatunji Alausa, who addressed newsmen to clarify the misleading reports on Friday in Abuja, said that what the government was trying to do was to bring secondary education back into basic education.
Recall that during the Extraordinary National Council on Education (NCE) Meeting in Abuja on Thursday, Alausa presented a proposal that aims to transition to 12 years of compulsory education within the existing 6-3-3 system.
The Minister explained that the proposal would undergo various stakeholders’ engagement before implementation and was not in any way scrapping the JSS, SSS component of education.
A major feature of the proposal, he said, is the removal of the examination barrier between JSS and SSS, allowing students to progress seamlessly without the need for external assessments at that stage.
He maintained that the proposal would enjoy robust consultation and input from stakeholders, and that its implementation depends on further deliberation.
According to him, over the next eight months, the Ministry will engage in extensive consultations with key stakeholders, including policymakers, state governments, teachers, parents, and others.
A final decision, he said, will be made at the National Council on Education Meeting in October 2025.
The Minister revealed that the council also approved other significant initiatives, including a national anti-bullying policy, the use of native languages in primary education, and policies for minimum age requirements for admission to tertiary institutions.
The goal, he said, is to emulate global best practices, seen in countries like the US, the UK, and Ghana, where 12 years of education are compulsory, leading to improved educational outcomes.
Alausa further noted that the government is committed to ensuring the new policy does not disrupt the educational sector and will involve extensive stakeholder consultations before making a final decision.
The Minister said, “What we’re saying is that we need to move from what we have now as nine years of compulsory education to 12 years of compulsory education as it’s obtained in other parts of the world.
“If you look back into the history of Nigeria, 30 years ago, people who went to primary education there and got up to standard six, if you compare the level of education, the level of instruction, even standard three there, it’s much better than what we get in JSS three now.
“Today, our quality of instruction and education is falling. If we let these kids continue to graduate, if we let these children tell them that they only have nine years of compulsory education, we’re literally just training illiterates. We’re not preparing them for the future.”
Additionally, he said there will be efforts to improve funding, particularly for early childhood education, and strengthen the quality of public schools in order to equip students with the skills necessary for success in life, whether in further education or the workforce.
“We already have a universal basic education that gets 2% of the conservative level. I’m going to go to Mr President about increasing the current level of funding to add basic education to 2% of conservative revenue to 5% of conservative revenue. We’ll ask for that.”
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