By our reporter 21.12.2025
A digital and human rights activist, Muhammed Bello Buhari said the Federal government’s recent ban on the admission and transfer of students into Senior Secondary School Three (SS3), will have adverse effects on students displaced by insecurity in northern Nigeria.
The President Bola Tinubu administration placed a nationwide ban on the admission and transfer of students into SS3 in both public and private secondary schools across the country, citing examination malpractice and use of special centres during external exams.
The directive was issued by the Federal Ministry of Education in a press release dated December 14, 2025, and signed by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade.
It stated that the policy would take effect from the 2026/2027 academic session, adding that “admission or transfer into SS3 will no longer be permitted under any circumstance.”
Buhari writing on his Facebook social media page Sunday argued that insecurity in the north would unfairly affect children whose education has been disrupted by banditry, terrorism and forced migration in the North.
“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 stated
He explained that displacement has become a normal part of life in several states, including Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, Borno, Yobe, Plateau and Benue, forcing parents to move with their children, often in the middle of an academic session.
“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.
“Stopping SS3 transfers will not stop cheating. It will only stop vulnerable students from continuing their education.
“If this policy goes ahead without exemptions, it will only deepen exclusion and inequality and once again, the North will pay the highest price.”