ISSUES IN THE 12-YEAR EDUCATION REFORM PROPOSAL
Why is the transition from 9-3-4 to 12-4 structure a priority now?
Last week, Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, proposed the transition of the country to a 12-year basic education system while advocating a shift from the current 9-3-4 model to a 12-4 structure. “It is important to acknowledge that while the 9-3-4 system of education has its merits, it also has drawbacks, such as the need for students to work in order to further their education,” Alausa said at the 2025 Extraordinary National Council of Education meeting in Abuja. By transitioning to the 12-4 system, Nigeria will align with global standards in preparing students for better tertiary education, he added. But following a national uproar over the plan, Alausa met the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), as well as the confederation of Principals of Secondary School in Nigeria (ANCOPPS) to explain that no decision has been taken on the issue.
First, this meeting should have preceded the mooting of the idea of a change in the national template for this level of the educational system. Two, the same minister who talked about ongoing discussions has already told Nigerians that implementation is being contemplated for the last quarter of 2025. That is just about seven months from now. While a fast-food approach to policy making has become common with the current administration, this is unacceptable in a sector as critical as education considering that we are talking about a new template for human capital development for the country. Alausa’s predecessor, Tahir Mamman announced a ban on students who are under-18 years from sitting for the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate (WASSCE) examination, and the National Examinations Council (NECO) almost like a military decree. The policy was reversed before he was sacked.
The proposal being canvassed by Alausa aims to integrate junior and senior secondary education into one single continuous system. It is expected to ensure seamless transition between primary and secondary education, by removing what the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) chairman, Haruna Adamu, called examination barriers to academic progression. But the very idea of examination as a barrier to academic transition is already a misconception. Evaluation of academic capacity is a mandatory prerequisite for any progression. It is based on such an evaluation that the disaggregation of products of the school system into those knowledgeable enough to play various knowledge-imparting roles can be done. Besides, there are pertinent questions begging for answers on this issue.
Why is this transition from 9-3-4 to 12-4 structure a priority now? Where is the report on the performance of the old system that Alausa now wishes to replace? What are the shortcomings that were identified and by whom? What is to be gained by the new system that cannot be achieved through the re-invention of the old system? Most importantly, what is being put in place to upgrade the skill of teachers to march whatever new templates are being planned?
We concede that there are fundamental flaws in our education that need the attention of critical stakeholders. But not in the manner the current administration is going about them. We fear the possibility of undue haste in the contemplated changes to the pre-tertiary level of the national educational system. Such haste would be most unwise, counterproductive and dangerous. The overall profile of Nigeria’s human capital development will be affected by it and, without contesting the role of the National Council on Education as a platform for standards and system review, we believe that a much broader national consensus is needed on this issue.
The entire educational landscape in Nigeria is dotted with schools without books, equipment and competent teachers. Fixing the infrastructure in schools, hiring quality staff and securing the environment in which they learn, etc., would be a more productive intervention. At the tertiary level, the tell-tale signs are the products – unskilled and unable to compete with their peers elsewhere. The crisis of tertiary education in Nigeria is better appreciated by the large number of our young citizens trooping to neighbouring countries within the West African sub-region to earn degrees.
If the federal government is bent on a systemic change in the education sector, it should consult extensively. And the implementation of such policy cannot commence in the next academic calendar.
