LIN glitch threatens 700,000 Ogun students’ WASSCE

Private school proprietors in Ogun State have expressed concern that thousands of students could miss the 2026 May/June West African Examinations Council Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) due to new compliance conditions introduced by the state government.

The school owners, who spoke anonymously, warned that more than 70 per cent of Senior Secondary School 3 (SS3) students in private schools across the state risk being unable to register for the examination if the issues are not urgently resolved.

At the centre of the dispute is the mandatory requirement for every candidate to possess a Learner Identification Number (LIN) before being cleared for WASSCE registration.

According to the proprietors, although the LIN is issued to students upon enrolment in any public or private school in the state, recent technical challenges have made it difficult to retrieve or validate the numbers.

They explained that schools were previously operating on the OGSERA platform but had recently migrated to DIPER. However, they alleged that the new system has been plagued by glitches, with some students who were earlier registered now unable to locate their details.

“The issue revolves around making it compulsory for students to have a Learner Identification Number before they can be registered for WASSCE,” one proprietor said. “There have been so many complaints and challenges with the online platform through which these numbers are generated.”

The proprietors further claimed that SS3 students who transferred from other states and do not have LIN are now required to provide their Junior Secondary School 3 certificates as well as first, second and third term results from SS1 and SS2 before they can be registered.

They described the timeline for meeting these requirements as unrealistic, especially as WAEC registration deadlines approach.

“The time is too short. Some students may not even be able to produce their results due to circumstances beyond their control. If this policy is not suspended for now, nothing less than 70 per cent of private school students in the state may not sit for the examination,” another proprietor said.

The school owners appealed to Governor Dapo Abiodun to intervene and direct the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, to put the policy on hold until the next academic session.

A viral message circulating on social media and reportedly addressed to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly also warned that up to 700,000 private school students could miss the examination if the matter is not resolved.

In response, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Arigbabu, defended the policy, stating that it was introduced to curb examination malpractice and ensure proper student data management.

He explained that the LIN system, introduced about five years ago, was designed to create a comprehensive database of students in both public and private schools across the state.

“Every student schooling in the state is supposed to have the Learner Identification Number. It is given once you are registered in any school in the state. It is not something you should start looking for in SS3,” he said.

Arigbabu dismissed claims that the policy was punitive, alleging that some private schools register ineligible candidates for WASSCE.

“Many of these private schools will register all kinds of persons for WASSCE, and most of the candidates registered won’t be the ones sitting for the examination. If you cannot produce the LIN, we will know that something is wrong,” he stated.

He acknowledged that there were technical glitches affecting some genuine cases and assured that such complaints were being addressed.

“We are keen on sanitising the entire process. We will look at those with genuine complaints, but we will not compromise our efforts to block leakages and fight malpractice,” he added.

The standoff comes as WAEC registration deadlines draw near, raising concerns among parents and students about the possibility of missing the 2026 WASSCE if a resolution is not reached promptly.