The Federal Government of Nigeria has unveiled plans to reform the country’s basic education system by scrapping the Junior Secondary School Common Entrance Examination and introducing a nationwide student tracking system.
Newsonspot reports that speaking during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, explained that the proposed reforms are aimed at improving access to education and ensuring better monitoring of students’ academic progression across the country.
Under the new framework, the traditional common entrance examination will be gradually phased out and replaced with a Continuous Assessment (CA) system. This approach will track pupils’ academic performance from primary school, allowing their records to seamlessly follow them even when they transfer between schools.
According to the minister, the reform is necessary to address a critical gap in Nigeria’s education system – particularly the sharp decline in student numbers between primary and junior secondary school levels. Government data shows that while over 23 million pupils are enrolled in more than 50,000 public primary schools, only slightly above 3 million transition into junior secondary schools within the public system.
Alausa questioned the significant disparity, noting that private schools alone cannot accommodate the millions of students missing from the transition. He stressed the urgent need for state governments to invest in building more secondary schools to meet growing demand.
As part of efforts to strengthen oversight, the government plans to introduce a Learner Identification Number (LIN) for every child starting from primary school. This unique number will remain with each student throughout their academic journey, regardless of changes in school or location. The system will enable authorities to monitor student progress and quickly identify cases of dropout for timely intervention.
In addition, the government is working to revive the school feeding programme to boost enrollment and retention in public schools. There are also plans to move the programme under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education to enhance monitoring and improve its effectiveness.
Overall, the proposed reforms signal a major step toward strengthening Nigeria’s education system, reducing dropout rates, and ensuring that more children complete their basic education.
