The Federal Government has set a new rule that says students must be at least 12 years old before they can enter Junior Secondary School 1 (JSS1). This new rule comes after the students must have completed six years of primary school.
This update is part of a new education policy launched by the Federal Ministry of Education. The guideline applies to private and non-state schools in Nigeria.
Private or non-state schools are schools not owned by the government. They are usually paid for by school fees, donations, religious bodies, or private organizations.
The new policy says that even though these private schools play a big role in Nigerian education, the standard of education they offer is not always the same across the country.
The Ministry of Education also shared how children should move through school based on their age. According to the plan, nursery school should last for three years. Children should start Nursery 1 at age 3, Nursery 2 at age 4, and then go through one year of Kindergarten at age 5.
For primary and junior secondary school, the policy says that basic education will last nine years — six years for primary school and three years for junior secondary school. Children should begin Primary 1 at age 6, complete six years, and then move to JSS1 at age 12.
With this structure, students are expected to finish secondary school at about 18 years old, which matches the previously suggested age to enter university.
In the past, former Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, had said students should be 18 years old before going to university. But the current Minister, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has changed that back to 16 years.
According to the Nigeria Education Digest 2022, private or non-state schools are becoming more common, especially at the junior secondary level.
The report also showed that in 26 states, there are more private junior secondary schools than government-owned ones. However, for primary schools, government schools are still more in 19 states.
Between 2017 and 2022, the number of private schools has grown faster than public schools. Private primary schools increased by over 31%, while government primary schools only increased by about 3%. At the junior secondary level, private schools grew by 35%, compared to 6.8% growth for government schools.
