The Federal Government has unveiled plans to phase out the Junior Secondary School Common Entrance Examination and replace it with a Continuous Assessment system, alongside the introduction of a nationwide Learner Identification Number (LIN) for pupils.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, made this known during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, explaining that the reform is aimed at improving access to education and strengthening student tracking across the country.
Under the new system, pupils will no longer rely on a one-off entrance examination to transition into junior secondary school. Instead, their academic progress will be assessed continuously from Primary One.
According to the minister, the Continuous Assessment record will follow each pupil throughout their educational journey, including when they transfer between schools.
“The CA will reflect the performance of the pupil from primary one and even if a pupil is transferring from one school to another, he will take it along to his new school,” he said.
Alausa noted that the reform is also designed to address a major gap in Nigeria’s education system—low transition rates from primary to secondary school.
He revealed that although over 23 million pupils are enrolled in more than 50,000 public primary schools nationwide, only slightly above 3 million proceed to junior secondary schools
This, he said, raises serious concerns about access to education.
“The question is, where are the about 20 million not enrolled in our public secondary schools?” he queried.
The minister attributed the gap largely to insufficient infrastructure, calling on state governments to prioritise the construction of more schools to accommodate the growing number of students.
To further tackle the issue, the government will introduce a Learner Identification Number for every pupil from the primary school level. The unique number will remain with each child throughout their academic journey, regardless of location or school transfers.
The LIN system is expected to help authorities monitor student progress and identify those who drop out of school.
“If somebody is expected to be in JSS1 and he is not there, we will be able to know the reason why he is not continuing his education,” Alausa explained.
In addition, the minister disclosed that efforts are underway to revive the school feeding programme, which is seen as a key driver of enrolment and retention in public schools. The programme may be transferred to the Federal Ministry of Education to enhance oversight and efficiency.
The proposed reforms are part of broader government efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s education sector, improve retention rates, and ensure that more children complete their basic education.
#EducationReform #NigeriaNews #SchoolSystem #FGPolicy
