By Ghazali Ibrahim
The Federal Government has officially pegged the minimum admission age for Junior Secondary School (JSS1) at 12 years, as part of a sweeping new policy framework targeting non-state schools and aimed at standardizing Nigeria’s basic education system.
The policy, launched last week by the Federal Ministry of Education, outlines a structured pathway for early childhood and basic education: three years of nursery school, six years of primary education, and three years of junior secondary school.
A copy of the policy document, obtained by The PUNCH, mandates that children must complete six full years of primary school before gaining entry into JSS1 at approximately age 12.
The framework states:
“Children shall be admitted into Primary One when they attain the age of six years. They shall be admitted into Junior Secondary School (JSS1) when they have completed six (6) years of primary education, at around the age of twelve (12) years.”
This structured timeline implies that most students would likely be around 18 years old by the time they qualify for admission into tertiary institutions, reigniting conversations around age limits for university entry in Nigeria.
The policy also provides specific age benchmarks for early childhood education. Children are to enter: Nursery One at age 3, Nursery Two at age 4, and Compulsory Kindergarten (pre-primary) at age 5.
These stipulations align with Section 2(17) of the 2013 edition of the National Policy on Education (NPE).
The new framework also highlights the rapid expansion of non-state schools privately-owned institutions not run by the government.
According to the Nigeria Education Digest 2022, private schools have overtaken public schools in at least 26 states at the JSS level.
Between 2017 and 2022, the growth of private institutions significantly outpaced their public counterparts.
The new policy is expected to serve as a guide for education administrators, particularly in regulating admission practices in private schools, where underage admissions are frequently reported.
