Education policy isn’t Nigeria’s real problem

In a country where education is a priority, education policies are not changed or replaced by fiat. The consequences of changing an existing National Policy on Education (NPE) without sufficient consultations with relevant stakeholders in the industry are extremely dangerous to be wished away. The recent re-echoing of the plan by the federal government to abolish the policy that separates junior secondary schools (JSS) from senior secondary schools (SSS) only confirms its outright failure to understand the real problems with Nigeria’s education system, which in itself, is a bigger problem.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, at the inauguration of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee that held in Abuja on Tuesday June 30, 2026 announced plans to abolish the policy separating JSS from SSS; saying it has failed to improve access to education and has contributed to the growing number of out-of-school children. He said government data showed that more than 20 million pupils who completed primary education were unable to transit to junior secondary schools due to inadequate infrastructure and the current disarticulation policy. In practical terms, the disarticulation policy implies the realignment of the JSS (3 years) with primary education (6 years) to form basic education (9 years). The minister said Nigeria has about 80,000 public primary schools with only about 15,000 junior secondary schools; creating a major gap in access to education.

The inability of 20 million pupils to proceed to JSS after their primary education is far from being a problem of accessibility, but rather of the failure of the government’s policy on basic education. The UBE Act 2004 makes basic education compulsory and free. Section 2(2) of the same UBE Act 2004 makes refusal by parents to enrol or withdraw their children or wards from school an offence liable on first conviction to reprimand; on second conviction to a fine of N2,000 or imprisonment; and on subsequent convictions to a fine of N5,000 or imprisonment. Until the government enforces this law and in addition provides necessary physical infrastructure and manpower for the 3-year JSS education for primary school graduates, the free and compulsory components of the basic education would continue to remain a failed policy.

Alausa further argued that the disarticulation policy had led to overcrowded JSS and underutilised SSS in many states. Indeed, over-crowdedness in JSS classrooms could not have been a consequence of the disarticulation policy. Rather, the problem is with government which made basic education free and compulsory, but woefully failed to provide the necessary infrastructure and manpower needed to drive the policy thrust. The minister of education’s failure to grasp the real issues of the system is obvious from his argument, which attributes the growing number of out-of-school children after primary education to the existing disarticulation policy.

The existing NPE envisaged that not every graduate of the JSS after 9 years of basic education would proceed to the SSS, which is why the JSS curriculum largely focuses on the acquisition of trades and entrepreneur skills such as woodwork/carpentry, metal work, electrical/electronics, knitting, sewing, and local crafts to equip those who lack the capacity to continue to the SSS level with basic knowledge and skills to function as productive citizens and contribute meaningfully to national development. It, therefore, constitutes no problem if there are a fewer number of students at the SSS level.

Dr Tunji Alausa had flown the kite for this proposed policy change in February 2025. However, more disturbing than the discordant tunes in the education minister’s arguments is the recent transmission by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the National Assembly of an amendment bill seeking to reform Nigeria’s secondary education system. The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, disclosed this in a letter from the president, which he read during plenary on Thursday July 9, 2026. While the letter did not provide details of the bill or the policy changes being proposed, President Tinubu did not expressly state whether the bill seeks to outlaw the separation of the JSS junior from the SSS. The bill had been referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for further legislative action. It has one week within which to report back.

With a rush for legislative actions to change the country’s NPE, Nigerians have reasons to interrogate government intentions. A government that failed to meet up with the infrastructural needs of a 9-year basic education policy cannot be taken seriously when it declares to extend the failed free and compulsory components of the policy to 12 years. Even when the change in policy becomes compellingly imperative, consultations with all major stakeholders is a key to the success of the change.

Altering education with inconsequential policies such as making education compulsory or free up to the end of secondary education is unlikely to address the critical problems confronting education. The real challenges facing basic education are more about infrastructural deficit, gross under-funding, and mismanagement of funds by educational administrators. With these inadequacies, even the best education policy would fail. Government needs to address the real issues and stop trivialising education policy.

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