Education experts, government officials, and student representatives in Ebonyi State have rejected the Federal Government’s proposed move to discontinue the 6-3-3-4 education system, arguing that the focus should be on effective implementation rather than another policy change.
Speaking in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki on Friday, the stakeholders warned that abandoning the long-standing educational structure could undermine efforts to build a functional, competitive, and skill-oriented education sector in Nigeria.
They maintained that poor implementation, inadequate funding, and insufficient infrastructure—not the structure itself—are responsible for the challenges facing the country’s education system.
Professor Chinedu Nwankwo of the Department of Educational Administration at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike stated that the 6-3-3-4 system was originally designed to equip students with vocational and technical skills at the junior secondary school level.
According to him, the policy was intended to promote self-reliance by providing practical skills that would enable students who do not advance to higher education to secure employment or start businesses.
He noted that successive governments failed to provide the facilities, equipment, and trained personnel required to achieve those objectives, stressing that scrapping the system would not solve the underlying problems.
Grace Onwe, Director of Academic Planning at the Ebonyi State Ministry of Education, cautioned against frequent policy reversals, saying they disrupt educational planning and development.
She urged the Federal Government to focus on strengthening existing structures through improved monitoring, adequate funding, and sustained commitment to implementation.
Onwe emphasized that meaningful educational reforms require consistency, sufficient resources, and time to deliver measurable results.
Also speaking, Sunday Ogbu, Director of Schools in the Ebonyi State Ministry of Education, observed that the vocational component of the 6-3-3-4 system has not been fully implemented across the country due to the shortage of workshops, laboratories, and qualified technical instructors.
Similarly, Professor Ngozi Enyi of Ebonyi State University called for a comprehensive evaluation of the current education system before introducing any new structure.
She argued that rising school dropout rates are largely linked to institutional and socioeconomic challenges rather than flaws in the 6-3-3-4 framework itself.
Representing students, Emmanuel Eze of the Ebonyi State University Students’ Union Government urged policymakers to consult widely with students, teachers, and education professionals before making major reforms.
He stated that students are more concerned about access to quality teaching, digital learning opportunities, modern technology, and functional school facilities than changes in the structure of the education system.
The stakeholders concluded that the 6-3-3-4 education system—which consists of six years of primary education, three years of junior secondary school, three years of senior secondary school, and at least four years of tertiary education—remains a viable framework for national development.
They urged the Federal Government to retain the policy, improve its implementation, and increase investment in technical and vocational education as a strategy for boosting youth employment and economic growth.
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