Private school owners in Ogun State are warning that new government registration rules could prevent hundreds of thousands of students from sitting the May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
At the center of the dispute is the mandatory Learner Identification Number (LIN), required for all students. Proprietors say the policy has created major administrative hurdles, especially for students who transferred from other states. Technical glitches with the state’s online systems, which recently migrated from OGSERA to DIPER, have left many students unable to access their LINs.
“The government’s timeline is simply unrealistic,” one school owner said. “Senior Secondary 3 students who transferred into the state without LIN now have to submit additional documents, including JSS3 certificates and term results from previous schools, just to be registered for WASSCE.”
School officials warn that without urgent intervention, more than 70 percent of private school students could be blocked from the examination. A viral message circulating over the weekend called on the state House of Assembly to act quickly to prevent a crisis.
Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, defended the policy, saying it is designed to prevent examination malpractice and maintain accurate student records. LINs, introduced five years ago, are part of a comprehensive registry covering both public and private schools.
“Every student should have a Learner Identification Number,” Arigbabu said. “For those facing genuine technical issues, we are addressing them. This is not punitive. Our aim is to sanitize the examination process and uphold integrity, while accommodating legitimate complaints.”
The standoff underscores the challenge of balancing regulatory compliance with practical realities on the ground. As WASSCE approaches, educators and parents are urging the state government to provide flexibility to ensure no eligible student is unfairly excluded from the pivotal exam.
