The Lagos State Government has said that over 26,000 students from public schools failed the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, shared this during a press briefing held in Alausa, Ikeja, on Thursday.
He said 45.7 per cent of the 58,188 public school students who sat for the exam did not pass.
“In 2024, a total of 58,188 students from our public schools wrote the WASSCE, but sadly, 26,592 of them failed,” he said.
Alli-Balogun explained that despite the failure, the state government spent over N1.5 billion to pay for these students’ exam fees.
“Suffice to say that the sum of N1,577,794,000 was paid by the state government as examination fees for the 2024 WASSCE,” he stated.
To stop waste of government funds, the commissioner said the ministry introduced biometric and image registration to confirm which students truly qualified for the sponsorship.
He said, “The exercise successfully captured and registered 56,134 students as real beneficiaries of the Lagos State Government’s sponsorship for the examination.”
In response to the high failure rate, the government launched a new learning initiative called the *Eko Learners’ Support Programme* on January 14, 2025. The aim is to help WASSCE and NECO candidates do better in their studies.
“This initiative was created to support and empower young scholars. It shows our deep commitment to improving education in Lagos State,” he said.
According to him, the programme plans to broadcast 320 video lessons in 10 core subjects like English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Economics, Government, History, Literature-in-English, and Yoruba.
Each lesson is 30 minutes long and will be shown on Lagos Television. Students will also be able to watch them on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).
“It is a supportive eco-system that promotes learning, creativity, and critical thinking,” he said. “Every student deserves a chance to succeed, no matter their background.”
The commissioner advised students, especially those in boarding schools, to make full use of the programme.
“Education is a lifelong journey. I encourage all our students to take this opportunity seriously,” he said.
