The Bill to repeal the National Secondary Education Commission Act, 2004 and enact the National Senior Secondary Education Commission Act, 2022 (SB 996) has been read for the Second Time in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) for further legislative action.

Leading the debate on the Bill at the plenary session of Tuesday, 10 May 2022, the Leader of the Senate, Sen. Abdullahi Yahaya (APC: Kebbi), informed lawmakers that the Bill seeks to set and enforce standards, and to provide interventions by the Federal Government towards repositioning Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria.

Speaking on the objectives of the Bill, Sen. Yahaya noted that the Bill seeks to establish a Commission responsible for the following:

• The formulation of policy guidelines, subject to the approval of the Board for the operations of Senior Secondary Education Programme in Nigeria.
• The prescription and enforcement of national minimum standards for Senior Secondary Education Programme in Nigeria.
• The presentation of progress reports, subject to the approval of the Board, on the implementation of senior secondary education programme to the President through the Minister.
• The identification of intervention in the provision of senior secondary education facilities.
• The collation preparation of master plans for development of senior secondary education in Nigeria.

In addition, Sen. Yahaya explained the Bill further seeks to establish the National Senior Secondary Education Commission Fund, which among others shall be for training and development of academic and non-academic staff. According to him, the Bill if passed into law will provide infrastructure and qualitative Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria.

It is important to note that the National Senior Secondary Education Bill, 2022 was transmitted to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari through a letter which was read on the floor at the plenary session of Tuesday, 29 March 2022.