FG Targets Education Gap with New Continuous Assessment System

…As Govt targets learning tracking, school access, accountability reforms

The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to abolish the common entrance examination used for pupils transitioning from primary school to junior secondary school (JSS), replacing it with a Continuous Assessment (CA) system aimed at tracking students’ academic progress from early education.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, made the disclosure during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, explaining that the reform is part of broader efforts to improve access to education and strengthen student monitoring across the country.

According to him, the new system will allow a pupil’s academic record to follow them throughout their schooling, regardless of school transfers. “The CA will reflect the performance of the pupil from primary one and even if a pupil is transferring from one school to another, he will take it along to his new school,” he said.

Alausa noted that Nigeria currently has over 50,000 public primary schools serving more than 23 million pupils, yet only about 3 million transition to public junior secondary schools. He raised concerns over the whereabouts of the remaining pupils, stressing that the gap points to a major challenge in access to education rather than capacity in private schools.

“The issue is simply lack of access and we are working on that,” he said, adding that discussions have already been held with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to encourage state governments to expand school infrastructure and accommodate more pupils.

To further improve tracking and accountability, the minister announced the introduction of a Learner Identification Number for each child from primary school. He explained that the unique identifier would help authorities monitor school attendance and progression, noting that it would enable the government to identify cases where pupils expected to be in JSS are not enrolled and determine the reasons.

In addition, the Federal Government is working to revive the school feeding programme as part of efforts to boost enrolment in public schools. Alausa indicated that the programme may be moved from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure better oversight and implementation.