The Federal Government has established 12 years as the minimum age for admission into Junior Secondary School 1 (JSS1), according to a new national policy on education released by the Federal Ministry of Education.
This directive was outlined in the Ministry’s newly launched policy document on Non-State Schools, unveiled last week in Abuja. The policy aims to regulate age-appropriate school progression and standardize education quality across both public and private institutions.
According to the guidelines, children are now expected to begin Primary One at the age of six after completing a structured early childhood education pathway that includes three years of nursery and one year of compulsory pre-primary education (Kindergarten). Pupils will then proceed through six years of primary education and enter JSS1 at approximately age 12.
“Basic education shall be of nine years’ duration—six years of primary and three years of Junior Secondary School. Children shall be admitted into Primary One at age six and into JSS1 after completing primary education, at around the age of 12,” the policy states.
The policy move aligns with broader efforts by the Federal Government to curb underage enrollment in secondary and tertiary institutions, a trend experts say undermines academic maturity and educational outcomes.
Although a former education minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman, previously proposed 18 as the minimum age for university entry, the current Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has reverted the age threshold to 16 years.
The policy also sheds light on the growing role of non-state (private) schools in Nigeria’s education sector. It reveals that private schools outnumber government schools in junior secondary education across 26 states, though government-run schools still dominate the primary level in 19 states.
Data from the Nigeria Education Digest 2022 highlights the rapid expansion of non-state schools over the past five years. Between 2017 and 2022, private primary schools grew by 31.56%, while public primary schools grew by just 3.3%. Similarly, private junior secondary schools expanded by 35.06%, compared to a 6.8% growth in their public counterparts.
The new age policy and related reforms aim to improve the quality, consistency, and inclusivity of Nigeria’s basic education system, ensuring students are physically and cognitively ready for each stage of their learning journey.
