FG moves to end school dropouts with nationwide learner identification number

The Federal Government has announced plans to introduce a Learner Identification Number for schoolchildren from the primary level as part of efforts to track academic progress and tackle the high rate of dropouts.

Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed the plan during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, noting that “Nigeria has over 50,000 public primary schools with more than 23 million pupils, yet only a little over 3 million progress to junior secondary school level in public institutions”.

Alausa said, “We have over 50,000 public primary schools in the country with over 23 million pupils. However, from statistics available to us, only a little over 3 million among those pupils move to the junior secondary school level in our public schools. The question then is: where are the remaining 20 million who are not enrolled in our public secondary schools? It is clear that private schools cannot accommodate all of them.

“The issue is largely a lack of access, and we are working to address that. There is a need to build more schools, and I have engaged with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum on this. State governments must expand infrastructure to accommodate more pupils and students.”

He added that the Learner Identification Number would be assigned from the primary school level and remain with each child throughout their academic journey.

“It will be unique to every child, regardless of where they begin their education or if they transfer schools. If a student is expected to be in JSS1 and is not, we will be able to identify and understand why they are no longer in school,” he said.

The minister also revealed that the government plans to phase out the common entrance examination for pupils transitioning from primary to junior secondary school, replacing it with a Continuous Assessment system.

According to him, the new approach will reflect pupils’ performance from primary one and follow them throughout their schooling, ensuring a more comprehensive evaluation of their academic progress.