The ban on JSS graduation parties, textbook fraud

THE Imo State government recently took a commendable educational step, and then other states followed suit. It banned elaborate graduation parties for pupils in nursery, primary, and junior secondary schools with immediate effect. In a memo dated August 15, 2025, the Commissioner for Education, Professor Bernard Ikegwuoha, directed that only Primary 6 and Senior Secondary School 3 (SSS3) students may hold graduation ceremonies, in line with Nigeria’s 6-3-3-4 education system. Ikegwuoha explained that the move would reduce the financial strain on parents and ensure celebrations are reserved for key academic milestones. In addition, Ikegwuoha directed private and faith-based schools from changing textbooks yearly, mandating their use for at least four years to cut costs and enable siblings to share learning materials across sessions.

In reaction, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) commended the Imo State government, describing the move as a timely step toward curbing excesses and promoting responsible value reorientation among young learners. According to the Director General of NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the current trend fosters unrealistic expectations of instant reward, encourages a culture of extravagance, and places undue financial pressure on parents who are often compelled to fund what he described as a wasteful and socially unproductive practice. On its part, the Edo State government also announced that approved textbooks used by older siblings could continue to be used by others as long as they were still listed as such. This was just as it placed a ban on graduation ceremonies in nursery and primary schools, saying only those who had completed basic education, that is, junior secondary school education, and the Senior Secondary School Education, were allowed to hold modest celebrations of their achievements. According to the state’s Commissioner for Education, Dr Paddy Iyamu, the decisions were in line with the Governor Monday Okpebholo-led administration’s efforts to reposition education and make life better and easier for the citizens of the state.

Again, the governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, announced certain reforms in the state’s education sector to protect parents, reduce exploitative practices, and make learning more accessible for children. Under the new policy framework, schools are directed to abolish the use of customised exercise and textbooks that restrict transfer to other learners, thereby restoring the traditional practice where senior students can pass down books to their juniors. The governor also ordered the discontinuation of compulsory after-school lessons, except where parents give consent, as well as the abolition of mandatory graduation ceremonies for kindergarten, nursery, and basic schools. He added that the reforms were designed to relieve parents of unnecessary financial burdens while ensuring that education remains people-focused and affordable. Also, the Lucky Aiyedatiwa-led administration in Ondo State abolished graduation parties for pupils in nursery and basic classes, including those in the Junior Secondary School (JSS) III in the state.The ban, which applies to both public and private schools, was part of the reforms in the education sector of the state. 

The moves by the Imo, Edo, Benue and Ondo state governments are in the right direction. A look at the situation in primary and secondary schools across the country, especially the privately-owned institutions, reveals a dark turn. The schools have been turned to clubs with ‘owanbe’ parties taking place almost at every level of education. Pre-school graduation parties complete with uniform attire (aso ebi), headgear gear and caps are taking place. Pre-school and Junior Secondary School graduation parties are now grand events for which parents are ‘billed’ heavily. Children happily and excitedly go to the school parties in aso ebi, learning the culture of extravagance from the cradle as it were. Recently, a woman even boasted online that she spent N1 million on her daughter’s secondary school graduation party, and was extremely proud of the expenditure! This is profoundly sad.

In another ugly development, textbooks are now workbooks; younger siblings can’t use their elder siblings’ books. This ugly practice places undue financial strain on parents and makes education a commercialised, dispiriting enterprise. This is utter bastardisation of education and the school system. It is a travesty, a disservice to education. Against this backdrop, the recent decision by the Imo, Edo, Benue and Ondo governments deserves commendation. The school parties have become a financial drain on parents, many of whom are actually struggling to keep their children in school. What should ordinarily be modest celebrations have been turned into extravagant shows, with the cost of attire, party fees, souvenirs, and party venue piled on parents who are barely surviving. By restricting graduation ceremonies to major academic milestones such as Primary Six and SSS 3, the governments have rightly placed emphasis on learning rather than merriment. Again, the constant change of textbooks is a racket. Schools insisting on new editions of books each session are promoting exploitation and cruelty in an economy where many families can hardly afford school fees. It is indefensible that a child in Primary Two cannot use the same English or Mathematics textbook that his elder sibling used just two years earlier. Such needless changes enrich publishers and unscrupulous school operators while impoverishing households.

Education at the foundational level should be accessible and affordable, not commercialised. When parents are compelled to pay for extravagant parties and repeatedly purchase new textbooks, education becomes a privilege for a few rather than a right for all. Children from poorer families are the ultimate victims; they are stigmatized for not meeting these imposed demands or pushed out of school entirely. It is, therefore, not enough for governments to stop at banning parties: they must regulate textbook policies. Approved texts should be standardised, reusable for several years, and monitored by the ministries of education. Schools that insist on yearly changes should be sanctioned. Anything less is complicity in the exploitation of parents. It is not enough for the government to make these pronouncements; it must monitor things and ensure compliance. This travesty must stop.

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