Mixed reactions trail education minister’s planned policy on common entrance

…As stakeholders urge caution, point to flip flop Sweden example

The Nigerian education sector has been thrown into turmoil following the minister’s controversial move to scrap the Common Entrance and replace it with the Learner’s Identification Number to track pupils’ academic trajectories, igniting a firestorm of reactions.

Tunji Alausa, minister of education, who was in Lagos for the Eid holidays, said the reform was 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.

Alausa emphasised that the new policy would 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.

However, stakeholders are wary that Nigeria might be toeing the path of Sweden, which in 2009, replaced textbooks with screens, 15 years later, and the country is spending $120 million to bring them back.

According to Indian Defence Review, 15 years after Sweden began replacing many printed textbooks with computers, that direction is being reconsidered.

“The UN Report says the country has allocated €104 million between 2022 and 2025 to bring printed books back into schools. The aim was to ensure students once again have paper textbooks for core subjects.”

Blessing Ema, an academician, expresses worries the scrapping of common entrance examination with learner’s identification number could be a ploy to enrich some people with software contracts, which would be discarded after a while.

“They will go and give somebody a contract to develop the platform, create the software. They will continue to embezzle public funds with unnecessary policies.

“At the end of the day, when another regime comes, it would scrap the learner’s identification number initiative, and possibly reintroduce common entrance,” she said.

Ema emphasised that scrapping the common entrance with the introduction of learner’s identification number is never the solution to Nigeria’s education crisis.

“Scrapping the Common Entrance examination with Learner’s ID Number is not the solution, it is like treating malaria with just paracetamol; it will not go away,” she noted.

Mercy Nnokam, a teacher in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said scrapping common entrance is not a bad idea if LIN is well-implemented.

“LID would help keep track of pupils’ data and will also show records of enrolment, drop out as well transfer from one school to another.

“It will reduce exam stress; but common entrance exams prepare the pupils to take responsibility into another level of learning, hence, the pupils tend to work harder,” she noted.

Chioma Ihejirika, a teacher in Lagos, believes common entrance has not been relevant, except for public schools.

“Private schools don’t care about common entrance. LIN is as good at NIN; so, we still have not made any progress.

“With all the dilapidated public schools everywhere, how would they introduce LIN?” she queried.

Read also: Alausa announces plan to scrap Common Entrance for Learner ID tracking

Ihejirika maintains that LIN would be a superior option, if well executed, but otherwise, a disaster.

“Nigeria is just good at copying the already working system without knowing the process. We’re not fully equipped with infrastructure, electricity, teacher training, and digital access to rely heavily on systems that require strong technological support.

“It’s a case of wanting to run when we can’t even crawl. Moreover, Sweden that adopted this digital method is going back to analog because technology has only succeeded in causing more harm than good. Pedagogy is still the right way for education,” she emphasised.

Christopher Nmeribe, a school proprietor, sees the scrapping of the common entrance examination as a bold but a risky move.

Nmeribe said, while it may reduce examination pressure and malpractice, Nigeria currently lacks the strong data systems and infrastructure needed to fairly track students through a Learner’s Identification Number, and without that, standards could drop.

He emphasised that Nigeria was not yet fully on track, because according to him, the experience of Sweden shows that rushing reforms without solid groundwork can backfire.

“If implementation is weak, which you can expect will be the case, especially with poor electricity, internet access, and teacher training, Nigeria may end up reversing the policy later at a higher cost.

“In Nigeria’s current reality, I think a hybrid system, continuous assessment plus a standardised examination would likely be more reliable,” he said.

Jessica Osuere, chief executive officer at RubiesHub Educational Services, described common entrance as a standardised access to secondary schools, and something pupils looked up to years ago, which makes them to be more serious with their studies.

“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 doesn’t know why the government wants to scrap it; maybe when we see the policy document, we would understand the reasons which were not given during the announcement,” she said.