Prosper Okoye
Private school proprietors in Ogun State have warned that a majority of their final-year students could miss this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) over what they describe as strict new state requirements for registration.
School owners, who asked not to be named, said on Monday that more than 70 percent of students in private schools risk being unable to sit the May/June exams unless the government urgently reviews the conditions.
They said that while registration had largely been completed in other states through the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), private schools in Ogun were facing delays linked to additional compliance measures introduced by authorities.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAt the centre of the dispute is a requirement that all candidates possess a Learner Identification Number (LIN) before they can be registered for the examination.
“Although the LIN is issued when students enrol in schools, there have been serious challenges with the online platforms used to generate and verify these numbers,” one proprietor said.
He added that recent migration from the state’s previous system to a new digital platform had created technical problems, with some students unable to retrieve previously registered details.
The proprietors also raised concerns over new documentation demands for students who transferred from other states. According to them, such candidates must provide their Junior Secondary School certificates alongside detailed academic records from their previous schools before they can be cleared for registration.
They described the requirements as difficult to meet within the limited timeframe for WASSCE registration, noting that some students may be unable to obtain the documents in time.
“We support proper regulation, but policies must be realistic and humane,” another proprietor said, urging the state government to suspend the measures until the next examination cycle.
A separate statement from a school owner warned that technical issues with the LIN system meant that even students who previously had valid identification numbers were unable to verify them.
The concerns come amid a viral message claiming that up to 700,000 private school candidates could be affected if the situation is not resolved.
Responding, Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abayomi Arigbabu, said the measures were introduced to curb examination malpractice and improve student data management.
He said the LIN system, introduced about five years ago, was designed to ensure that all students in the state’s public and private schools are properly documented.
“Every student schooling in the state is expected to have a Learner Identification Number. It is not something to be obtained at the point of writing final examinations,” he said.
Arigbabu rejected claims that the policy was punitive, alleging that some private schools register candidates who are not the actual examination sitters.
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“If a student cannot produce a valid LIN, it raises concerns. However, for those experiencing genuine technical issues, we are addressing them,” he added.
The commissioner said the government would consider legitimate complaints but insisted it would not relax efforts to sanitise the examination process.
Prosper Okoye is a Correspondent and Research Writer at Prime Business Africa, a Nigerian journalist with experience in development reporting, public affairs, and policy-focused storytelling across Africa
