The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, recently announced plans to phase out the National Common Entrance Examination. The proposal to replace the high-stakes examination with a system of continuous assessment anchored by a unique Learner Identification Number (LIN) is generating concerns, IYABO LAWAL reports.

Recently, the Federal Government announced plans to phase out the National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) and replace it with a continuous assessment system tracked by a unique Learner Identification Number (LIN). The reform, championed by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, aims to address Nigeria’s primary-to-secondary transition crisis, where only three million of 23 million primary pupils advance to public junior secondary schools.

According to the minister, an identification system allows the government to track children from primary one, identify dropouts, and ensure records follow pupils wherever they transfer.

The proposal is not merely about phasing out an exam. It introduces a centralised digital tracking system in which every child would have a LIN, allowing real-time monitoring of retention and progression. This data-driven approach, combined with a planned revival of the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, will represent a holistic attempt to tackle the foundational crises of access and quality.

During an interactive session with journalists, Alausa disclosed that the government would phase out the NCEE and replace it with continuous assessment.

The key policy elements include ending the exam for the primary-to-junior secondary transition, with CA tracking pupils’ performance from primary one through ongoing classroom work, participation, and skills development.

Each pupil will receive a unique LIN from primary enrolment, enabling academic tracking across school transfers, while CA records will follow students when transferring between schools to prevent data loss.

The stated objectives include improving access by removing examination barriers preventing primary pupils from transitioning to secondary education, providing comprehensive evaluation by assessing pupils holistically over six years rather than through a single high-stakes exam, enabling better tracking through LIN to monitor student progress and identify dropouts, and addressing inequality by reducing advantages held by wealthy families who can afford examination preparation and private schooling.

Nigeria faces one of the world’s most severe education access challenges.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) 2025 report, 10.2 million children are out of school at the primary level, while 8.1 million children are not enrolled at the junior secondary level. Approximately 66 per cent of out-of-school children come from North-West and North-East geopolitical zones, and the transition rate shows only about 13 per cent of public primary pupils advance to public junior secondary schools.

The government gives three reasons for the move. First, it aims to reduce stress and malpractice. Some stakeholders noted that the common entrance exam had lost relevance because many secondary schools now conduct their own entrance examinations, and that restating daily progress through continuous assessment would build confidence and self-esteem, in contrast to high-stakes examinations sometimes marred by malpractice.

The second reason is to reflect true ability. By definition, continuous assessment considers students’ performance in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains from entry to exit, covering assignments, classwork, and projects. Current practice in Nigeria often falls short, as most teachers use only one end-of-term test to assess performance, which is inadequate because it ignores class records.

The third reason is to track out-of-school children as the learner ID would help track pupils’ data and show records of enrolment, dropout, and transfer. With 20.2 million out-of-school children reported by UBEC in 2024, the government believes that a digital trail is more valuable than a one-off examination.
Nigeria is not inventing this model.

FINLAND’S education system is globally renowned for minimal standardised testing and high academic performance. Finnish students take no national standardised tests during basic education covering grades one to nine for ages seven to 16.

The only standardised assessment is the matriculation examination at the end of upper secondary school for ages 18 to 19, and even this is optional.

Classroom teachers design and administer all assessments based on curriculum objectives, demonstrating significant teacher autonomy. Assessment is continuous and personalised through observations, portfolios, projects, oral presentations, and one-on-one conferences.

Also, national evaluation tests use only representative samples of approximately 10 per cent of students to inform policy without high-stakes pressure.

Finland consistently ranks in the top five to 10 globally in reading, mathematics, and science despite minimal testing, and excels in creative, collaborative problem-solving skills.

Critical success factors include highly trained teachers who are master’s-level professionals trusted with significant autonomy; strong social safety nets and equitable school funding that reduce resource disparities; a low-stakes culture where assessment supports learning rather than ranking students or schools, and professional trust where teachers’ judgments are respected without external verification pressures.

For Nigeria, the relevance is limited because it lacks Finland-style teacher-training infrastructure, with widespread teacher shortages and inadequate professional development.

Equity gaps between Nigerian states and schools far exceed Finnish disparities, and cultural emphasis on examinations as meritocratic gatekeepers runs deep in Nigerian society.

Another example is the United Kingdom. England maintains rigorous national examinations, while incorporating some continuous assessment components.

Most subjects are assessed primarily through final examinations at the end of two-year courses. Non-examined assessments are retained only where essential for practical skills such as art, physical education, and science experiments.

Northern Ireland’s Education Minister, Paul Givan, announced 2029 reforms to scrap AS Levels and reduce controlled assessment, retaining it only for practical skills.

The assessment philosophy prioritises national comparability over teacher autonomy, maintains accountability through school performance tables and Ofqual oversight, and, while the Curriculum and Assessment Review reported in November 2025 recommended changes to GCSE English, the 2026-2027 examinations remain unchanged.

For Nigeria, the UK demonstrates the tension between standardisation and flexibility in assessment, shows that heavy coursework loads can contribute to teacher and student burnout, and illustrates that national examinations provide comparability but may not capture holistic student abilities.

The United States of America employs diverse assessment approaches varying by state, with growing reform movements. Yearly standardised tests in grades three to eight are required under the Every Student Succeeds Act. SAT and ACT were historically required for college admissions, though many universities moved to test-optional post-pandemic.

Test results influence school funding, teacher evaluations, and student promotion under high-stakes accountability.

The 2026 reform initiatives include new federal guidelines encouraging competency-based assessments over single exams, ESSA permitting states to replace yearly tests with multiple interim assessments if they produce valid and reliable data, and over 40 state education chiefs meeting with the US Department of Education in August 2026 to discuss K-12 assessment futures.

Expert commentary from the 1992 Office of Technology Assessment noted that standardised examinations have been used since the mid-19th century to inform education authorities and legislatures about school quality.

For Nigeria, the U.S. experience warns against over-reliance on standardised testing that narrows curricula. It also shows that affluent families purchase test preparation that widen achievement gaps, and demonstrate that frequent policy changes create reform fatigue among educators.

Finland’s signature assessment model relies on teacher assessment plus an optional matriculation exam at ages 18 to 19, with no standardised testing before age 18, very high teacher autonomy, top five to 10 PISA ranking, key strengths in low stress, holistic development, and equity, and key weaknesses in requiring highly trained teachers and strong social safety nets.

England’s GCSE system, with limited coursework, features standardised testing at the end of secondary education at ages 16 and 18, low to moderate teacher autonomy, a top 20 PISA ranking, key strengths in national comparability and accountability, and key weaknesses in examination pressure, teaching to the test, and burnout concerns.

The United States employs state tests comprising the SAT and ACT, which are optional at many universities, with standardised testing in grades 3-8 annually, including high school, low teacher autonomy, top 30 to 40 PISA ranking, key strengths in multiple measures and reform flexibility, and key weaknesses in inequality amplification, reform fatigue, and narrow curricula.

Nigeria’s current system uses the common entrance exam plus BECE, with standardised testing at Primary Six for NCEE and JSS 3 for BECE; low teacher autonomy; no PISA ranking; key strengths in national benchmarking and merit-based selection; and key weaknesses in high-stakes pressure, access barriers, and regional disparities.

Nigeria’s proposed system would use continuous assessment plus LIN tracking, with no standardised testing as it would be school-based CA only, moderate to high teacher autonomy, no PISA ranking, key strengths in holistic evaluation, reduced exam pressure, and portability, and key weaknesses in standardisation challenges, manipulation risks, and infrastructure gaps.

The US and UK use a flexible SAT-style format, while countries like China and South Korea use very high-stakes, single-window examinations.

Finland succeeds without entrance examinations because teacher training is elite, with all teachers holding master’s degrees. Trust in teacher judgement is also sky-high.

Nigeria has 1.2 million primary teachers, and about 43 per cent lack the required NCE qualification according to the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), with a pupil-teacher ratio of 45 to one in public primary schools, compared to 11 to one in Finland, 20 to one in the UK and 14 to one in the US.

If implemented well, education stakeholders believe, phasing out the common entrance exam could bring gains.

For Dr Olu Adeojo, founder of Keddies Foundation School, Ogba, the move would reduce high-stakes trauma, as psychologists report that about 35 per cent of Lagos primary six pupils experience examination anxiety before the common entrance examination, while continuous assessment spreads evaluation across terms.

Besides, Adeojo added that it would capture true learning by measuring attendance, projects, and practicals, aligning with the competency-based curriculum launched in 2023.

On her part, educationist and Head of School, Tiny Tots Group of Schools, Ketu, Lagos, Kathrine Obinna, said that replacing common entrance with a system of continuous assessment could curb examination malpractice because miracle centres that thrive on last-minute leaking become less useful when assessment travels with the pupil, while also providing data for planning, since a Learner ID linked to NIN and EMIS could finally give real-time data on retention in a country where primary completion is only 64 per cent, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Yet many stakeholders are on the other side of the spectrum.

First is the infrastructure deficit. Opponents of the policy stated that the country is not fully equipped with infrastructure, electricity, teacher training and digital access to rely on systems that require strong technological support.

Prof Johnson Adejobi of Osun State University, Osogbo, described the decision as wanting to run when it cannot crawl.

He said: “In 2009, Sweden replaced textbooks with screens, and 15 years later, the country is spending $120 million to bring them back and allocated €104 million between 2022 and 2025 to bring printed books back into schools for core subjects.

“Second is teacher assessment corruption. In Nigeria, continuous assessment is often alleged to be inflated. Empirical studies showed that teachers who received professional training in measurement and evaluation were more effective in implementing continuous assessment and recorded better pupil performance. In contrast, teachers with limited assessment literacy struggled with designing valid tools.

“Third is the loss of a uniform benchmark. 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. Unity colleges have only 30,000 slots for over 200,000 applicants, raising the question of how to select fairly without an exam.”

Similarly, Dr Millicent Awurum of Delta State University said phasing out the common entrance exam with learner IDs could be a ploy to enrich some through software contracts that would be discarded later, with another government potentially coming in and reversing the policy.