The federal government has clarified that its plan for a 12-year compulsory education for Nigerians is still at the proposal stage and that the Junior Secondary School (JSS) and Senior Secondary School (SSS) system has not been scrapped.
The government made the clarification in a statement by the education ministry.
It said, “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Education has been drawn to misleading reports suggesting that the Federal Government has scrapped Junior Secondary School (JSS) and Senior Secondary School (SSS) and replaced them with a new 12-year uninterrupted basic education model.
“We wish to categorically state that this is not true.”
According to the ministry, at the Extraordinary National Council on Education meeting held on Thursday in Abuja, education minister Maruf Olatunji Alausa “presented a proposal for discussion—not an immediate policy change.”
The proposal “seeks to migrate to 12 years of compulsory education while retaining the current 6-3-3 structure.”
“A key aspect of this proposal is to eliminate the examination barrier between JSS and SSS, allowing for a seamless transition of students without the hurdles of an external assessment at that stage,” added the education ministry. “However, this is still a subject of consultation and deliberation.”
The statement explained that to ensure a “well-informed decision, the ministry will undertake extensive stakeholder engagements over the next eight months, consulting widely with education policymakers, state governments, teachers, parents, and other key players.”
“The final decision on whether to adopt this reform,” it stated, “will be made at the October 2025 National Council on Education Meeting.”
The ministry urged the public to disregard the claim that JSS and SSS have been scrapped.
