The Federal Government has unveiled plans to introduce a Learner Identification Number (LIN) for pupils from primary school level, in a bid to monitor their academic journey and tackle the alarming dropout rate across the country.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, noting that the initiative will assign a unique number to every child, regardless of where they begin or continue their education.
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According to him, the system will help authorities track students’ progress and identify those who fail to transition to the next level. “If a child is expected to be in JSS1 and is not there, we will know and find out why,” he said.
Alausa expressed concern over the sharp drop in enrollment, revealing that out of over 23 million pupils in more than 50,000 public primary schools nationwide, only about 3 million proceed to junior secondary school in public institutions.
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He pointed out that the gap cannot be fully absorbed by private schools, stressing that limited access remains a major challenge. To address this, the Federal Government is working with state governments to build more schools and expand capacity.
In another major shift, the minister announced plans to phase out the common entrance examination. It will be replaced with Continuous Assessment (CA), which will evaluate pupils based on their performance from primary one. The assessment record will also follow students if they transfer between schools.
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Alausa further hinted at the revival of the school feeding programme to boost enrollment in public schools. He added that the initiative would soon be moved from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to the Federal Ministry of Education for better oversight.
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