Menu

Implementation strategy crucial for the success of 12-4 education policy 11 Apr 2025

The recently proposed 12-4 education policy, which extends basic education to 12 years before specialisation at tertiary level, by the Minister of Education, Maruf Olatunji Alausa, has received both positive and negative reactions from citizens. Most of the negative feedback questioning the feasibility of having an uninterrupted educational system for 12 years centred around the current economic situation across the country where many households are experiencing severe hardship and are struggling financially to meet their daily needs.

According to a 2024 report by the World Bank, more than half of Nigeria’s population, about 129 million people, live below the international poverty line of $2.15, which is currently equivalent to N3,273, per day. Therefore, it will be challenging for the government to ensure uninterrupted learning for 12 years except there are interventions to support struggling parents and guardians to keep their children or wards in school.

In other words, it is possible for basic education to be uninterrupted. But this depends on whether the government would allocate more funds to ensure that pupils and students continue to have access to educational materials, amenities, and conducive learning environments, especially in government-owned schools. To deliver on uninterrupted basic education, the government would have to lift the financial burden of maintaining school-age children in school off the shoulders of their parents and guardians who are struggling to make ends meet.

Incentives such as free school meals and free or highly subsidised transportation system, specifically for pupils/secondary school students, can also encourage low-income families – who would prefer to let their wards learn a trade and begin to earn money as soon as possible to fend for themselves after three years of Junior Secondary School (JSS) or even before then. For example, some years back when I was in primary school in Lagos State (1992-1998), we had the subsidised long vehicles for pupils and students that charged N1 per trip instead of N100 that was charged for the same distance by commercial vehicles. There was also the completely free Bournvita vehicle service for students.

To be sure, we still do not have a complete breakdown of what the minister meant by “uninterrupted education system”. The public needs to know whether the 12-4 model will be in principle or in practice. This is because, when the transition from 6-3-3-4 to 9-3-4 was established, it was only in principle. Pupils continued to have six years of primary education and then proceeded to JSS, which summed up to nine years, and then continued to Senior Secondary (SS) education for the next three years before beginning to seek admission into tertiary institutions – which is a minimum of four years for university degree programmes.

With this, there was no noticeable practical difference between the 6-3-3-4 model and the 9-3-4 model except that the latter makes the first nine years basic and compulsory up to JSS-3 in principle. So, households struggling to make ends meet may not be affected differently in any way under the current system compared to the proposed 12-4 model if it is only in principle. Otherwise, if such parents have to ensure that their children or wards remain in school uninterrupted for 12 years before they can be issued the first school leaving certificate, then governments at all levels must put measures in place to drive this policy by eliminating or reducing to the barest minimum the financial burdens directly or indirectly attached to basic education for public schools where low-income earners often enroll their children or wards. The bone of contention, however, is the sustainability of this approach for the government.

If we decide to look on the bright side of the proposed new policy, its successful execution could reduce the rate at which students drop out of school and improve literacy rate. The tendency of the proposed model to cause any significant change, compared to the previously used models, will depend on the implementation plan. If it is a change that would be practically implemented and not only in principle but also in practice, I am assuming a scenario where primary and secondary education would be merged into Grades 1-12, instead of the current separate Grades 1-6. In fact, most private schools operate only Grades 1-5. That means, if the new policy says it has to be uninterrupted education for 12 years, automatically, every child has to be in school studying from grades 1 to 12.

Provided the government supports earlier mentioned, and more, are available, such practical change stands a good chance of improving overall education outcomes in the country. In this scenario, completing year 12 earns a person the first school certificate, and such a person can then proceed to technical schools, universities or any other tertiary institution, or even learn a choice trade or skill. At this point, the young school leavers are able to effectively and intelligently communicate and have the minimum education required to make informed decisions for themselves. But government should ensure that these changes are not only mandatory for public schools. Private schools must also comply, and their learners should also benefit from some of the public incentives.

However, if the 12-4 model is only in principle and pupils have to first finish from primary school, then proceed to junior and senior secondary school to complete the 12 years, it might not achieve the “uninterrupted education system” that the model proposes. It might simply retain the outcomes of the current model without any improvement in literacy rate as intended by the policy, even if studying to SS-3 level becomes the basic and is made compulsory. By reviewing and updating the curriculum, the model can as well standardise learning and ensure that school leavers are mentally, technically, and academically equipped to channel their thoughts towards solving economic challenges and navigating the circumstances and ideas of modern times after schooling.

But there is another critical issue that the Ministry of Education (MoE) and other stakeholders, including the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Council on Education (NCE), need to address. In a situation where many parents and guardians have put in their resources to see their children or wards through secondary education with the meagre income they earn, supporting them through higher education becomes even tougher.

Whether in public tertiary institutions or private ones, the cost of keeping students in school is constantly increasing, pushing many brilliant students from humble backgrounds to drop out of school. Also, as an educator, I have seen firsthand situations where some students have to engage in malpractices, including trading in hard drugs, committing cybercrimes, prostitution, and other societal vices, to support themselves in tertiary institutions. This highlights the urgent need for stakeholders to push for work-study policy that will allow undergraduate students to work within campus or in other establishments during their degree programmes.

Nigerian universities, through the organised labour bodies, can partner with companies, firms, industries, and governmental institutions to provide part-time employment opportunities to enrolled students where they can legitimately earn some money to support themselves. Such engagements must be designed with specified maximum work hours per week to avoid overriding academic schedules – and for holiday periods. Students do not only get financial benefits from such arrangements. In addition, they gain early exposure to the labour market and gather useful experiences they can deploy for better performances after graduation.

Overall, the effectiveness of the 12-4 policy depends on the implementation plans and strategies. This policy can make meaningful impact, where past policies had failed, if the MoE and other stakeholders join forces to make it work. To be effective, such collaboration would entail reforming the curriculum, ensuring provision of infrastructure and amenities for conducive learning experiences, training teachers and equipping them to deliver their best, and also providing support for young learners and undergraduate students to cushion the negative effect that the economic hardship can have on education. A practical implementation strategy is imperative for the 12-4 model to not become just another policy in paper.

Mojisola Karigidi, PhD, a Financial Nigeria Columnist, is a Nigerian biochemist and the founder and product developer at Moepelorse Bio Resources. She is also a Global Innovation Through Science and Technology (GIST) awardee, and an Aspen New Voices fellow.