Prominent digital and human rights activist, Muhammed Bello Buhari, has criticised the Federal Government’s newly announced ban on the admission and transfer of students into Senior Secondary School Three (SS3), warning that the policy overlooks the impact of insecurity and displacement in Northern Nigeria.
The Federal Ministry of Education had announced a nationwide ban on the admission and transfer of students into SS3 in both public and private secondary schools. The directive, contained in a press release dated December 14, 2025, was signed by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade.
According to the ministry, the decision was taken in response to “growing concerns over the increasing incidence of examination malpractice, including the use of so-called special centres during external examinations.” The policy is scheduled to take effect from the 2026/2027 academic session, with the ministry stating that admission or transfer into SS3 would no longer be allowed “under any circumstance.”
Reacting to the announcement, Buhari, in a Facebook post on Sunday, expressed concern that the policy would unfairly penalise students whose education has been disrupted by banditry, terrorism and forced displacement in the North.
He argued that many families relocate not in search of academic advantage but to escape violent attacks that have destroyed communities and schools, noting that this reality was not considered in the formulation of the policy.
“In the North, most of the people are not moving because they are chasing special centres,” Buhari wrote. “They are moving because their villages have been attacked. Because bandits came at night. Because terrorists burnt schools.”
Buhari noted that displacement has become a recurring experience in states such as Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, Borno, Yobe, Plateau and Benue, often forcing parents to move their children to new locations in the middle of an academic session.
He questioned how the ban would affect students who have completed SS2 but are compelled to enroll in new schools due to insecurity, as well as those already in SS3 whose families are forced to relocate.
“Now imagine an SS2 student in an IDP camp who finally gets a chance to enroll in a new school,” he said. “According to this policy, if that child advances to SS3 in a different school, it becomes illegal.”
Buhari further argued that the policy would fail to address examination malpractice, insisting that cheating is driven by systemic challenges such as weak supervision, poor learning conditions and intense pressure to pass examinations, rather than student transfers.
“Stopping SS3 transfers will not stop cheating,” he said. “It will only stop vulnerable students from continuing their education.”
He also warned that the directive could worsen the already high number of out-of-school children in Northern Nigeria, where access to education is severely constrained by poverty, insecurity and displacement.
The activist urged the Federal Government to review the policy and introduce exemptions for displaced students and conflict-affected communities, stressing that education policies must be responsive to the lived realities of Nigerians.
“If this policy goes ahead without exemptions,” Buhari warned, “it will only deepen exclusion and inequality, and once again, the North will pay the highest price.”