By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
The Federal Government has announced plans to scrap the long-standing separation of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), declaring that the policy has failed as more than 20 million pupils drop out before reaching senior secondary education.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the decision on Tuesday, 30 June, 2026 in Abuja during the inauguration of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee.
He said the proposal would be presented to the National Council on Education (NCE) for approval, following findings that the policy had created administrative bottlenecks, widened access gaps and worsened the country’s education crisis.
Alausa said data available to the Federal Government revealed a huge disparity between the number of public primary schools and junior secondary schools nationwide, making the transition to secondary education difficult for millions of children.
“We have 20 million dropouts from primary school to junior secondary school. 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,” he said.
According to him, the shortage of junior secondary schools has left existing facilities overcrowded, while many senior secondary schools remain underutilised.
Declaring the policy ineffective, the minister said the government had resolved to abolish it in the interest of Nigerian children.
“This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out. We can’t create positions because we want to create a director-level position for people while we harm our education system. It’s about doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” he said.
The JSS/SSS structure was introduced in 1982 under the National Policy on Education, popularly known as the 6-3-3-4 system, which was formulated in 1977. It separated junior and senior secondary schools into different administrative structures.
Alausa said dismantling the arrangement forms part of broader reforms aimed at expanding access to education and improving learning outcomes.
“This government will not fail. We are fixing it,” he added.
The minister also expressed concern over Nigeria’s worsening learning crisis, disclosing that three out of every four children at the basic education level cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text by the age of 10.
Speaking later at the Federal Ministry of Education/UBEC Roundtable on Digital Resources to Achieve Learning Outcomes, Alausa described the country’s learning poverty rate as unacceptable.
“Learning poverty means that by the age of 10, a child cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text. In Nigeria today, three out of every four children are learning poor. That is simply unacceptable,” he said.
He stressed that technology had become indispensable to reversing the trend.
“We don’t have a choice. We have to use technology. It is no longer feasible to continue to do things manually. Digital learning is the future, and we must deploy it to every part of the country, including the most rural communities,” he said.
The minister urged state governments to maximise existing Federal Government digital learning platforms, including the Nigeria Learning Passport, Inspire, Ignite, EduRevamp, E-Learn, the Greenfield Learning Management System and virtual classroom solutions.
According to him, the platforms provide curriculum-based lessons delivered by some of Nigeria’s best teachers and could help bridge shortages of qualified teachers in Mathematics, English Language, Physics and Chemistry.
He said schools without subject teachers could connect learners to live or recorded virtual classes, allowing students to interact with teachers remotely.
Despite the investment, Alausa lamented the poor utilisation of the platforms.
Although the Nigeria Learning Passport has about 2.3 million users, he said the figure represents only a fraction of Nigeria’s estimated 67 million learners in primary, junior and senior secondary schools.
“This is still extremely low. We have invested significant resources in these platforms. If they are not used, then it becomes a wasted investment. We cannot continue to suffer in the midst of plenty,” he said.
The minister commended the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for supporting the development of the Nigeria Learning Passport, noting that it sustained learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and later served children affected by insecurity and school closures.
He also inaugurated a Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee, chaired by Prof. Rashid Aderinoye, to oversee UBEC-funded smart schools, bilingual schools and alternative schools nationwide.
The committee, he said, is expected to ensure the projects are completed, handed over to state governments and opened for learning.
Alausa decried the slow completion of many of the projects despite huge public investment, describing the situation as an unacceptable waste of public resources.
Earlier, UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr. Aisha Garba, said technology is critical to building an inclusive, resilient and future-ready education system.
She said the commission has established digital learning centres in primary and junior secondary schools, deployed smart interactive boards, strengthened education data systems and introduced digital monitoring and evaluation platforms.
Garba added that UBEC has also inaugurated Digital Champions to drive digital transformation and support states in implementing education technology initiatives.
However, she stressed that technology alone cannot transform education without effective coordination, strong partnerships, sustained capacity building and stakeholders’ commitment to innovation.
She expressed confidence that collaboration among the Federal Ministry of Education, UBEC, state governments and development partners would accelerate the adoption of digital learning resources and improve learning outcomes across the country.
Nigeria has one of the world’s largest populations of out-of-school children, with millions particularly in rural, poor and conflict-affected communities still unable to access or complete basic education.
Education experts have consistently linked the crisis to poor transition rates from primary to junior secondary school, inadequate infrastructure, teacher shortages and insecurity.
They have also criticised the separation of junior and senior secondary schools for creating administrative bottlenecks and limiting pupils’ progression, especially in areas where junior secondary schools are scarce.
