Educare CEO Alex Onyia Slams FG’s SS3 Admission Ban, Calls Policy “Most Unserious Education Logic
Educare CEO Alex Onyia Slams Tunji Alausa’s SS3 Admission Ban, Calls Policy “Most Unserious Education Logic”
The Chief Executive Officer of Educare, Alex Onyia, has sharply criticised the Federal Government’s directive banning schools from admitting students into Senior Secondary School 3 (SS3), describing it as one of the “most unserious education logic” Nigeria has produced in recent years.
Ejes Gist News reports that Onyia shared his position in a detailed Twitter thread posted on his verified handle @winexviv.
Federal Ministry of Education Introduces SS3 Admission Ban
The Federal Ministry of Education, led by Minister Tunji Alausa, announced that schools would no longer be allowed to admit students into SS3. The Ministry claimed the measure was aimed at curbing widespread exam malpractice in national examinations such as WAEC and JAMB.
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The government maintains that limiting SS3 admissions would prevent students from changing schools mid-year to evade supervision, and reduce opportunities for manipulation of exam processes.
However, Onyia argued that this policy unfairly targets students while ignoring the structural problems that foster malpractice in Nigeria’s education system.
Root Causes of Malpractice Ignored, Says Alex Onyia
Onyia stressed that exam malpractice in Nigeria is not caused by the timing of student entry into SS3. Instead, he attributed it to structural weaknesses in the education system, including:
- Weak supervision and monitoring of exams
- Corruption among officials
- Underpaid and demotivated teachers
- Compromised examination centres
- Poor teaching and curriculum delivery over multiple years
He warned that students facing genuine challenges such as relocation, insecurity, illness, financial delays, or the need to leave substandard schools would be unfairly excluded.
“So if a child:
– Changes school due to relocation
– Escapes insecurity
– Leaves a bad school
– Gets financial help late
– Returns after illness
Nigeria says: your future is cancelled,” Onyia wrote.
Policy Risks Backfiring, Could Harm Students
Onyia cautioned that the ban would likely exacerbate the problem instead of solving it, potentially leading to:
- Increased desperation among students
- Rise of underground or illegal SS3 classes
- Growth in racketeering and fraudulent networks around WAEC and JAMB
- Unjust punishment of students for failures at the system level
“A broken system doesn’t get fixed by blocking doors, it gets fixed by repairing the engine,” Onyia said.
He added that countries that successfully reduced exam malpractice implemented systemic reforms, including:
- Strong monitoring and supervision of exam centres
- Integration of technology in exam administration
- Improved teacher welfare and professional development
- Rigorous sanctions against offenders
According to Onyia, Nigeria has yet to adopt any of these evidence-based solutions, opting instead for what he described as “bureaucratic laziness dressed as policy.”
Call for Policy Reversal
Onyia concluded that if the government’s solution to exam malpractice is to deny students access to school, the underlying issue is control, not examination integrity.
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“This policy will not stop malpractice. It will only punish innocent students,” he said. “Reverse this policy now. It’s baseless.”
The thread has generated wide discussion across social media platforms, sparking debates among educators, parents, and policymakers about the effectiveness of the SS3 admission ban and the urgent need for structural reforms in Nigeria’s education sector.
