The Federal Government has announced plans to phase out the common entrance examination and introduce a nationwide Learner Identification Number (LIN) to track students’ academic progress from primary school through secondary education.
The Minister of Education, Morufu-Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, describing the initiative as part of broader reforms aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s education system.
Alausa said the proposed LIN would assign a unique number to every pupil at the primary level, enabling authorities to monitor their progression and identify gaps in school enrolment and retention.
According to him, the system would help address the alarming drop-off between primary and junior secondary school levels. He noted that out of over 23 million pupils in more than 50,000 public primary schools nationwide, only about three million transition into public junior secondary schools.
“This raises a critical question about the whereabouts of millions of children who are no longer in the public education system,” he said, attributing the gap largely to limited access and insufficient school infrastructure.
To tackle the challenge, the minister said the government is engaging state authorities to expand school capacity, including discussions with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to build more schools.
He explained that the Learner Identification Number would remain with each student regardless of school transfers, making it easier to track attendance, progression, and reasons for dropping out.
In a major policy shift, Alausa also revealed that the common entrance examination would be replaced with a Continuous Assessment (CA) system. The new approach, he said, would evaluate pupils based on their academic performance from primary one, ensuring a more holistic and consistent assessment process.
“The continuous assessment will follow the child throughout their schooling, even when they move between schools,” he added.
The minister further disclosed plans to revive the school feeding programme, noting that it would be transferred from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to the Federal Ministry of Education to improve monitoring and implementation.
The reforms, he said, are designed to boost enrolment, improve retention, and ensure that more Nigerian children complete basic education
Education Shake-Up: FG Phases Out Exams, Launches Learner IDs
