New regulations requiring Nigerian secondary schools to meet minimum standards by November 2025 have threatened the survival of both rural and urban substandard schools across the country.
The Nigerian government, through the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), set a timeline for schools to implement these minimum standards as part of their education reforms.
The nine-month period, which began in February 2025, is set to expire in November of this year, allowing schools time to make the necessary adjustments to meet these standards.
These regulations ensure that schools adhere to requirements in areas such as infrastructure, curriculum, teacher qualifications, and student welfare.
As schools struggle to comply with the new requirements, many are finding it difficult to meet the set benchmarks, which include upgrades to infrastructure, teaching resources, and student facilities.
While urban schools face challenges in terms of land sizes, LEADERSHIP has gathered that rural schools are grappling with even greater difficulties due to limited access to essential infrastructure and support.
The looming threat of closure or operational disruption has raised concerns, with many fearing that these regulations could deepen the divide between well-equipped and underserved schools.
An official document of the new Minimum Standards for Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria, obtained by LEADERSHIP, outlined some of the required standards.
These include teacher quality, teacher support services, teaching and learning resources, and e-learning processes.
The standards stated the importance of school premises in terms of infrastructural facilities and equipment, including physical land space, pedagogical facilities (classrooms, laboratories, workshops, libraries, ICT), welfare facilities (sports, toilets, transportation, health, boarding, catering, water, electricity), staff needs (staff rooms, staff quarters), and administrative buildings and offices.
The document also specifies that schools must have secured perimeter fencing, adequate land size, functional buses, well-equipped libraries, and accommodation for teaching and non-teaching staff within the premises, among other requirements.
“Land size that can accommodate physical structures, sports fields, playgrounds well fenced and secured. A rural setting with 4-8 hectares, semi-urban with 4-8 hectares, urban with 4-8 hectares and urban special with 1-8 hectares.
“Also, placement of surveillance cameras, other security gadgets, and security personnel at strategic locations.
“A functional 14-seater bus with constant repairs and maintenance to elongate the life span of the bus.
“Accommodation for teaching and non-teaching staff within the premises is safe and secured with necessary amenities, with quarters designed as flats and detached bungalows.
“A well-equipped library, conducive for studying, providing e-learning materials with 21st-century books, encyclopedia, computer systems and accessories, furniture, fans for and bright lights.
“Isolation centre in the event of epidemic and pandemic. Space for the centre should be 9m x 12m x 3m, partitioned space with one bed in each partition,” the document stated.
However, LEADERSHIP investigations revealed that many secondary schools across the country lack most of the minimum standards set by the commission, and there is little hope of meeting them in a few years.
In Abuja, some schools, such as Premier Academy Lugbe, Nigerian Tulip International College, and Cherry Field College, which our correspondent visited and spoke with insiders, met many required standards, including perimeter fencing, land sizes, accommodations, and sports fields.
However, many schools in the Federal Capital Territory attended by average-income families are lagging far behind.
At Lugbe, some schools, including Davidson International School and Divine Grace, among several others, lack crucial facilities such as sports fields, isolation centres, libraries, security systems, and adequate land size as recommended by NSSEC.
The new regulations also require schools to engage teachers in ongoing professional development and equip classrooms with modern technology, including projectors, computers, and high-speed internet access.
Schools are also required to introduce e-learning platforms.
The document further revealed that NSSEC would be the coordinating agency for implementing these standards at the federal level, while state education boards (SSEBs) would coordinate the implementation at the state level.
At the school level, close collaboration with state and local government agencies will be necessary to collect and regularly provide school-level data for informed decisions regarding enforcement.
Speaking on the development, some education stakeholders and parents commended the implementation of the minimum standards, believing it would help curb the rise of substandard schools.
An educationist, Francis Moji, supported the move, urging the government to enforce strict regulations once the November deadline expires.
“The move is a welcome development. If you go around the country, some schools don’t need to be in existence, given the calibre of teachers they have, with dilapidated structures and no security system.
“I think the government needs to take this seriously and clamp down on such schools if they can’t upgrade,” he said.
Abuja-based parent Noble Adebayo also expressed support for the initiative, urging the government to carry out thorough assessments of schools across the country.
“Let the government carry out a thorough assessment of these schools. Even in Abuja, there are so many schools operating at substandard levels.
“The government needs to invest in existing public schools, giving them a new face with affordable fees so that our children can receive better education,” he said.
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