The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has denied ever proposing the extension of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme to two years.
Alausa, who spoke during a visit by the new NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, canvassed for young Nigerians to be given more opportunities to become job creators under an expanded NYSC scheme.
“Let NYSC give young Nigerians more opportunity to become job creators. With a longer service year, the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme can be expanded and made more effective,” he said last week.
The report sent social media into a frenzy, as the claim that the minister had proposed extending the scheme by one year rapidly gained traction over the weekend.
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This development sparked confusion about the future of the NYSC programme, with some Nigerians calling for its scrapping.
Minister denies proposing extension of NYSC
Reacting to the reports, Alausa clarified that the idea he had suggested was the creation of a special teacher corps for graduates of National Colleges of Education, not an extension of the NYSC service year.
He made this known during a convocation lecture at Lagos State University (LASU) on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, stressing he was misquoted.
“Now, there was never a time that I said youth service should be extended to two years. I never said that,” he said.
The minister further explained that his proposal was to address the shortage of teachers in rural areas. He highlighted the possibility of establishing a voluntary, optional teacher corps under the NYSC to send teachers to underserved areas for two years.
“We are training many graduates from National Colleges of Education, but there aren’t enough jobs for them. This imbalance between supply and demand leads to challenges. Rural areas suffer from a lack of teachers in subjects like mathematics, science and English,” he added.
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Alausa also disclosed that the government is conducting an audit of teachers employed by Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) in unity schools and plans to integrate qualified PTA teachers into the federal civil service.
