Education stakeholders in Ebonyi State have rejected the Federal Government’s proposed plan to phase out the 6-3-3-4 education system, saying the country should focus on proper implementation rather than another policy change.
The stakeholders, who spoke separately in Abakaliki, said frequent changes in Nigeria’s education structure had weakened long-term planning and slowed national development.
They argued that the 6-3-3-4 system was not the main problem facing education in Nigeria.
According to them, poor funding, weak infrastructure, shortage of trained teachers and inconsistent implementation have prevented the policy from achieving its original purpose.
Prof. Chinedu Nwankwo, a Professor of Educational Administration at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, said the system was designed to produce self-reliant citizens
He explained that the structure was meant to expose students to vocational and technical education from the junior secondary school level.
Nwankwo said the idea was to ensure that students who could not continue to senior secondary school or university would still acquire practical skills for employment and entrepreneurship.
He, however, said successive governments failed to provide the workshops, equipment, technical facilities and qualified teachers needed to make the system work.
According to him, scrapping the policy would not solve the problems caused by years of poor implementation.
Mrs Grace Onwe, a Director of Academic Planning in the Ebonyi State Ministry of Education, also warned against frequent policy reversals.
Onwe said Nigeria’s education sector needed stability, adequate funding, teacher training and stronger monitoring mechanisms.
She said reforms require time, resources and consistency to succeed, adding that the country should avoid abandoning policies whenever implementation challenges arise.
Also speaking, Mr Sunday Ogbu, Director of Schools in the Ebonyi State Ministry of Education, said the vocational component of the 6-3-3-4 system was never fully developed across the country.
Ogbu noted that many junior secondary schools still lack functional workshops, laboratories and trained technical instructors.
He said if those facilities had been provided from the beginning, many school leavers would have become skilled artisans, technicians and entrepreneurs.
According to him, the failure to strengthen practical education has contributed to overdependence on white-collar jobs.
Prof. Ngozi Enyi, a Professor of Curriculum Studies at Ebonyi State University, said policy consistency remained essential to meaningful education development.
Enyi said countries with strong education systems often achieve progress because they sustain well-designed policies over time.
She advised the Federal Government to carry out a comprehensive review of the current system before introducing another structure.
The curriculum expert said the high number of out-of-school children in Nigeria should not be blamed on the 6-3-3-4 system alone.
According to her, the challenge is more of an institutional failure linked to poverty, poor infrastructure, insecurity, weak enforcement and inadequate support for learners.
A student leader at Ebonyi State University, Mr Emmanuel Eze, urged the Federal Government to consult students, teachers, parents and education experts before taking a final decision.
Eze said students were more concerned about better classrooms, modern laboratories, digital learning tools and quality teaching than a change in education structure.
The stakeholders recalled that the 6-3-3-4 system provides for six years of primary education, three years of junior secondary education, three years of senior secondary education and at least four years of tertiary education.
They said one of its major objectives was to equip learners with vocational and technical skills that could support job creation and economic growth.
The respondents maintained that the system could still deliver better outcomes if government invested properly in technical colleges, vocational centres, teacher development and school infrastructure.
They urged the Federal Government to retain the structure while addressing the real problems affecting learning outcomes across the country.
According to them, Nigeria’s education sector needs sustained investment, accountability and effective implementation more than another major policy reversal.
The proposed change to the 6-3-3-4 education system has continued to generate debate among teachers, parents, students and education experts across Nigeria.
