FG develops 4-year strategic plan for senior secondary education

The Federal Government has developed a four-year strategic plan for senior secondary education in Nigeria (2024 –2027) in line with the ongoing efforts to reposition secondary education in the country.

This is even as the Executive Secretary, National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), Dr. Iyela Ajayi, has vowed to ensure strict enforcement of the National Minimum Standards for senior secondary education in Nigeria, saying severe sanction would be applied to both partial and non-implementation by schools.

Ajayi spoke during the weekend at the stakeholders’ meeting on validation of the two draft documents, National Minimum Standards for Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria and the draft Strategic Plan for Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria, 2024 – 2027.

He explained that the strategic plan, when approved, would provide a clear roadmap for the development of senior secondary education in Nigeria in the next four (4) years.

He added the preparation of the document has taken into consideration the roadmap for the education sector, prepared by the Federal Ministry of Education, the mandates of the Commission, and other policies and programmes pertaining to senior secondary education in Nigeria.

On the minimum standards, Ajayi noted that after, the validation exercise the document would be forwarded to the next meetings of the Joint Consultative Committee on Education (JCCE) and finally to the National Council on Education (NCE) for consideration and final approval later this year.

The draft document specifies the standards/benchmarks in various thematic areas in senior secondary education delivery, namely: Teaching & Learning; Quality Assurance; Planning Research & Statistics, Infrastructural Facilities & Equipment; Special and Support Programmes and Stakeholders’ Responsibilities at the Federal and State levels.

“When this is done, it will be mandatory for all the public and private senior secondary schools in Nigeria to implement the National Minimum Standards as it will define benchmark for all aspects of senior secondary education in the country.

“The law has also given the Commission the power to enforce the Minimum Standards. This we will do through a robust monitoring system.

“With time, benchmark performance would also be used as the basis for the ranking of senior secondary schools in Nigeria,” the NSSEC boss said.

Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, SAN, while declaring the validation meeting open, urged all state governments, private sector, and other relevant stakeholders in education to support the implementation and establishment of these standards.