FG moves to end JSS-SSS division as 20 million students fail to reach high school

The Federal Government has announced plans to abolish the policy of separating middle and high schools after learning that more than 20 million children drop out of school before continuing on to higher secondary education.

Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, unveiled the reform plans on Tuesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee.

According to the Minister, the old policy of requiring middle and high schools to operate independently – with separate principals, management structures and facilities – has failed to achieve its intended goals and has actually worsened access to education.

Highlighting the magnitude of the existing challenge, Alausa said the country has a severe mismatch between the number of primary and lower secondary schools available to accommodate students’ transition through the education system.

“We have 20 million children who have dropped out of school from elementary to middle school. Where are the students? We also found that we have 80,000 public elementary schools and only around 15,000 middle schools. That’s a ratio of one in eight,” he said.

He explained that this gap puts enormous pressure on existing middle schools, causing classrooms to be overcrowded, while many high schools remain underutilized. He noted that this problem is especially visible in Kaduna State and some other states in northern Nigeria.

Declaring the policy unsuccessful, the minister said the government had decided to discontinue it to improve access to education for Nigerian children.

“This policy of disarticulation has failed. We will phase it out. We cannot create positions because we want to create director level people while we are harming our education system. This is about doing the best for every child in Nigeria”, he added.

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Alausa said the proposal to formally abolish the policy would be presented at the next meeting of the National Council for Education for consideration and approval.

He described the reform plans as part of a broader effort to increase student participation, strengthen progress between levels of education and improve learning outcomes nationally.

Acknowledging existing shortcomings in addressing the transition gap between primary and secondary education, the minister expressed confidence that the current government will deliver meaningful reforms.

“This administration will not fail. We are fixing it.”

During the event, Alausa also inaugurated a ministerial committee chaired by Prof. Rashid Aderinoye to oversee the implementation of UBEC-funded Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools across the country.

The committee is tasked with ensuring that the projects are completed, formally handed over to the state government and opened for academic activities.

Although UBEC has invested in hundreds of schools across the country, the minister lamented that there are still many schools that have not been completed or have not yet accepted students, and described this situation as an inefficient use of public funds.

Nigeria continues to grapple with one of the world’s largest populations of out-of-school children, with millions of children—especially those living in rural areas, underserved and conflict-affected communities—still unable to access formal education.

Stakeholders in the education sector have repeatedly stated that solving this crisis requires not only building more schools, but also ensuring that the completed facilities are fully equipped, adequately staffed, and operational so that more children can stay in school and complete their education.