Ogun WASSCE Registration Crisis deepens as private schools warn over 70% of SS3 students may miss the May/June examination
Private school proprietors in Ogun State have warned that the Ogun WASSCE Registration Crisis could prevent more than 70 per cent of Senior Secondary School 3 students from sitting the May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
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The school owners said stringent conditions imposed by the state government before granting clearance for registration have created serious administrative bottlenecks.
Proprietors who spoke anonymously expressed concern that while schools in other states have largely completed registration with the West African Examinations Council, private schools in Ogun State are grappling with new compliance requirements.
At the centre of the dispute is the mandatory requirement that every student must possess a Learner Identification Number before being registered for WASSCE.
One proprietor explained that although the Learner Identification Number is issued upon enrolment in any school in the state, persistent technical glitches have affected the online platforms used to generate and verify the numbers.
The proprietor said schools were previously registered on OGSERA but were recently migrated to DIPER.
The proprietor added that some students whose names were originally on the system can no longer retrieve their details.
The Ogun WASSCE Registration Crisis has been compounded by additional directives affecting transfer students.
According to the proprietors, Senior Secondary School 3 students who transferred from other states without a Learner Identification Number must now produce their Junior Secondary School 3 certificates alongside first, second and third term results from Senior Secondary School 1 and 2 before being cleared.
School owners described the timeline for compliance as unrealistic, noting that the West African Examinations Council registration schedule has already been extended multiple times and could close at any moment.
Another proprietor appealed to Governor Dapo Abiodun to intervene and direct the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Abayomi Arigbabu, to suspend the policy until the next academic cycle.
A viral message addressed to the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly also claimed that not fewer than 700,000 private school students risk missing the examination if the matter is not urgently resolved.
Responding, Professor Abayomi Arigbabu said the government’s position is aimed at curbing examination malpractice and strengthening student data management.
Professor Abayomi Arigbabu explained that the Learner Identification Number was introduced about five years ago to maintain comprehensive records of students in both public and private schools.
Professor Abayomi Arigbabu dismissed claims that the policy is punitive. Professor Abayomi Arigbabu alleged that some private schools register candidates who are not the actual students sitting the examination.
Professor Abayomi Arigbabu stated that failure to produce a valid Learner Identification Number raises red flags, although the government is addressing genuine technical complaints.
Professor Abayomi Arigbabu insisted that the state will not compromise its efforts to sanitise the examination process, describing the reform as necessary to block leakages and restore integrity.
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As tensions rise, the unfolding Ogun WASSCE Registration Crisis underscores the fragile balance between regulatory reform and the urgent academic future of thousands of students.
David Okere is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering business, governance, public affairs, and human-interest stories with a commitment to accuracy, balance, and public interest reporting.
