The Federal Government has announced plans to discontinue the policy separating the administration of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), describing it as an ineffective reform that has contributed to rising school dropout rates.
Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, made the announcement on Tuesday in Abuja, saying the policy, which created separate management structures for JSS and SSS, has failed to achieve its objectives. According to him, it has created unnecessary administrative bottlenecks and made it more difficult for students to progress from junior to senior secondary school.
Alausa said millions of students expected to move from JSS to SSS are failing to make the transition, describing the situation as unacceptable. He directed officials of the Federal Ministry of Education to prepare a position paper for presentation to the National Council on Education (NCE) to facilitate the review and eventual discontinuation of the policy.
The minister also inaugurated a committee to ensure that Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools across the country become fully operational. He said the committee would accelerate project implementation, remove bottlenecks and ensure government-funded schools are completed, equipped, staffed and opened to students.
Alausa stressed that no publicly funded educational facility should remain abandoned or underutilised, noting that every completed school left unused represents lost opportunities for Nigerian children. He added that the Federal Government aims to make all Smart Schools and Bilingual Schools operational before the end of the year while focusing on measurable improvements in learning outcomes.