FG to Abolish JSS-SSS Separation Policy Following 20 Million Student Dropout Crisis

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

The Federal Government has announced plans to scrap the policy separating Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) from Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), following alarming data revealing that over 20 million pupils dropped out before reaching senior secondary level.

Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa made the announcement on Tuesday during the inauguration of the UBEC Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee in Abuja. He declared that the “disarticulation policy,” which mandated separate operations, principals, and facilities for JSS and SSS, had failed to achieve its intended objectives.

“We have 20 million dropouts from primary school to JSS. 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,” Alausa stated.

The minister explained that this imbalance has created severe overcrowding in JSS facilities while leaving many senior secondary schools underutilised. He cited Kaduna and other northern states as prime examples of where the policy has proven counterproductive.

“This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out. We can’t be creating positions because we want to create a director level for people while we harm our education system. It’s about doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” he added.

The proposal to abolish the policy will be presented at the next meeting of the National Council on Education for formal approval.

Alausa acknowledged previous failures in addressing student transition rates but assured Nigerians of the government’s commitment to fixing the educational system. “This government will not fail. We are fixing it,” he declared.

At the same event, the minister inaugurated a committee chaired by Professor Rashid Aderinoye to oversee UBEC-funded Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools across the country. The committee has been tasked with ensuring these projects are completed, handed over to states, and opened for learning.

The minister expressed concern that many of these institutions remain unfinished or have not admitted learners, describing the situation as a waste of public resources.

Nigeria continues to grapple with one of the world’s largest populations of out-of-school children, with millions of school-age children particularly in rural and conflict-affected communities still lacking access to formal education.

Education experts have consistently argued that addressing the crisis requires not only constructing new schools but ensuring that completed facilities are fully operational, adequately staffed and accessible to learners.