The Federal Government has announced plans to phase out the common entrance examination for pupils moving from primary school to junior secondary school, replacing it with a continuous assessment system.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during a meeting with journalists in Lagos, explaining that the new method will track pupils’ performance from primary one instead of relying on a single exam.
He said the assessment record will follow each pupil, even if they change schools, to ensure proper monitoring of their academic progress.
As part of broader reforms, the government is also set to introduce a Learner Identification Number for pupils starting from primary school.
The number will be unique to each child and will remain with them throughout their education, regardless of transfers between schools.
This system is expected to help authorities monitor pupils and identify those who fail to move to the next level of education.
The minister noted that Nigeria currently has over 50,000 public primary schools with more than 23 million pupils. However, only a little above 3 million transition to junior secondary schools in the public system.
This gap, he said, shows that many children are not continuing their education, and they are not all being absorbed by private schools.
He explained that limited access to schools is a major reason for the situation, adding that efforts are ongoing with state governments to build more schools to accommodate growing numbers of pupils and students across the country.
In addition, the government is working to revive the school feeding programme as part of measures to attract more children to public schools.
The minister also revealed that there are plans to move the programme from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to the Federal Ministry of Education to improve supervision and ensure better coordination.
