The federal government has announced a comprehensive set of reforms aimed at eliminating examination malpractice, and improving children’s learning outcomes.
The Learner Identification Number (LIN) is a unique identifier introduced by the federal government to track primary school students’ academic progress, reduce dropout rates, and monitor transitions to secondary school.
Each child retains this number throughout their education, ensuring consistent tracking regardless of school transfers.
According to Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, the reform is for Nigeria’s basic education sector, as the government unveils plans to abolish the National Common Entrance Examination, replacing it with a centralised Learner Identification Number (LIN) system to track pupils’ academic journeys.
Read also: African Ministers shun London summit as boycott deepens over inclusion row
Alausa emphasised that the new policy will see continuous assessment replacing traditional examinations.
“The common entrance examination will be phased out in favour of a more comprehensive evaluation system. This shift marks a significant departure from the high-stakes testing that has historically governed the transition from primary to secondary school.
“It will be replaced by continuous assessment (CA), which will reflect the performance of the pupil from primary one. Even if a pupil is transferring from one school to another, he will take his record along to his new school,” he said.
The new system is designed to address gaps in the transition between educational levels, particularly for the large number of pupils who currently fail to progress to the secondary stage.
This move is part of ongoing efforts by the federal government to strengthen the credibility, transparency, and public confidence in Nigeria’s national assessment system.
Read also: Africa exports raw wealth, imports global shocks
A major component of the new framework is the introduction of enhanced question randomisation and serialisation mechanisms. Under this system, all candidates will answer the same examination questions, but the sequencing and arrangement will differ for each candidate, ensuring that every student sits a unique version of the examination and significantly reducing opportunities for collusion and cheating.
According to UNESCO, Learner Identification Number allows students to be followed in school registers, examination records and national scholarship databases throughout their education journey for administrative routine follow-up and for analytical insights into their learning trajectories.
It also has benefits beyond education; for example, student identification can be linked to civil registry official digital identification, which can then link to other social services.
Read also:,Tinubu flagship programme advances 65 student ventures toward equity-free funding
System Implementation:
The Federal Ministry of Education will use this number to create a unified database to improve educational planning and policy formulation.
Target group:
The system will apply to school children starting from the primary school level.
What experts are saying
Nubi Achebo, director of academic planning at the Nigerian University of Technology and Management (NUTM), describes the move as an ideal approach to tackling exam malpractice.
“The LIN system is expected to reduce pressure on students and provide a more accurate reflection of their academic abilities by tracking performance from primary one through continuous assessments.
“This approach may help minimise exam malpractice, but some stakeholders await details on implementation, teacher training, and safeguards against potential misuse,” he said.
On how the new approach would improve learning outcomes, he said, “LIN will track student progress by monitoring academic performance and identify areas for improvement, identify students at risk of dropping out and enable interventions, and allow student records to move with them across schools,” he noted.
Jessica Osuere, chief executive officer at RubiesHub Educational Services, emphasised that the common entrance examination was originally designed to standardise access into secondary education.
The common entrance provides a uniform benchmark for comparing pupils from diverse primary schools, helps in merit-based selection, and promotes fairness and national integration at least in principle by giving children from different regions equal opportunity to compete.
“l don’t know why the government has decided to scrap it. Maybe when we see the policy document we will understand the reasons which were not given during the announcement.
“On the other hand, the LIN initiative is a welcome development. It’s something we have been advocating for. Our education system must be technology and data-driven,” she said.
However, she noted that the common entrance and LIN do not have to be mutually exclusive but should complement each other if properly structured.
The common entrance, she reiterated, can remain as a moderated, standardised checkpoint to ensure comparability and fairness, while the Learner Identification Number (LIN) can provide a continuous, long-term picture of each learner’s progress beyond a single exam.
Read also: How Nigeria’s tax law reshapes property inheritance
Blessing Ema, a teacher, condemned the idea of LIN because it is tech-centric and provides leeway to corruptive tendencies in the system.
“Anything that depends on the internet doesn’t go smoothly in Nigeria because of the inadequate infrastructure drive initiative.
“I don’t see how the implementation of LIN would become the panacea to curbing exam malpractice and improve a child’s learning outcomes in a system where children learn in dilapidated schools without roofs, under trees and on bare floors,” she said.
Ema wondered how the government intends to track the progress of children learning under such terrible conditions.
“It’s just another way of giving scores to some students and failing some others; the LIN is not the problem of Nigeria’s primary school system.
Read also: Kenya leaves Nigeria in the dust with $5.83bn private equity deals
“It is funding and ensuring that the funds get to where they’re supposed to go; state governors and local governments should restructure the school system and ensure that teachers’ welfare is taken care of and the children are well taught in a conducive environment,” she said.
On the way forward, Achebo said, while the LIN is a step forward, there is a need for adequate funding, infrastructure, and collaboration between federal and state governments to ensure its success.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
