The Federal Government has announced plans to merge Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), saying the move is aimed at reducing the high number of pupils dropping out before reaching senior secondary school.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, made the announcement on Tuesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the UBEC Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee.
According to the minister, the current system, which separates JSS and SSS with different principals and facilities, has failed to achieve its purpose.
“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,” he said.
Alausa explained that the shortage of junior secondary schools has led to overcrowded classrooms, while many senior secondary schools remain underused.
“This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out… It’s about doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” he added.
He said the proposal will be presented at the next meeting of the National Council on Education.
The minister also set up a committee, chaired by Rashid Aderinoye, to oversee the completion and handover of UBEC-funded Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools. He noted that many of the projects remain unfinished or have not admitted students, describing the situation as a waste of public resources.
