The Lagos State Government [/b]has raised alarm over the mass failure of students from public schools in the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), revealing that over 26,000 students failed despite the state spending more than N1.5 billion on their exam fees.
During a ministerial press briefing held on Thursday in Alausa, Ikeja, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, expressed concern over the alarming results, stating that 45.7% of the 58,188 students from public schools who sat for the exam did not pass.
“45.7 per cent of the 58,188 students from public schools who sat for the exams did not pass. Suffice to say that the sum of N1,577,794,000 was paid by the state government as examination fees for these students,” Alli-Balogun disclosed during the briefing. He emphasized that the state government had invested heavily in ensuring all eligible public school students had the opportunity to write the exam without having to pay personally for the fees.
He also mentioned that the state had allocated the sum of N1,577,794,000 as the examination fees to cover all students’ costs, yet the results of the exam did not reflect the state's significant financial investment in the education sector.
Additionally, the Commissioner noted that 56,134 students had been successfully registered as bona fide beneficiaries of the state's sponsorship for the 2024 WASSCE. However, in a bid to improve transparency and ensure that only qualified students benefit from such sponsorships in the future, the Lagos State Government has introduced biometric and image registration ahead of the 2025 WASSCE. He confirmed that the biometric registration process has already captured 56,134 students who will be eligible for sponsorship for the next WASSCE cycle.
In light of the troubling failure rates, the Lagos State Government has launched a new initiative aimed at improving academic performance and addressing the challenges faced by students in public schools. The Eko Learners' Support Programme is designed to help students succeed in both the WASSCE and NECO exams. The program, which was officially launched on January 14, 2025, features 320 televised lessons across ten core subjects, including English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Literature-in-English, History, Government, Yoruba, and Economics.
Each lesson, which is 30 minutes long, will be broadcast on Lagos Television and shared on various digital platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). This initiative aims to form a digital learning library accessible to all students, creating an inclusive, supportive ecosystem that promotes academic achievement, creativity, and critical thinking. According to Alli-Balogun, “Every student deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential, regardless of background or socio-economic status.”
The Commissioner further urged students, especially those in boarding schools, to take full advantage of this new initiative to enhance their academic performance and to equip themselves with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in their exams. He concluded by reminding students that education is a lifelong journey and that initiatives like the Eko Learners' Support Programme are part of the government's commitment to improving the quality of education in Lagos State. “It is on this note that I urge and encourage students, more importantly, students in our boarding schools, to take full advantage of this initiative, as education is a lifelong journey,” he said.