Lagos State government has announced that 31,596 public school students failed the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The disclosure was made by the Lagos State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, during the 2025 ministry’s press briefing held on Wednesday at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Ikeja.
According to the commissioner, only 45.7% of the 58,188 public school candidates who took the exam passed—representing 54.3% failed.
This alarming outcome comes despite the government’s significant investment in the examination fees.
“Suffice to say that the sum of ₦1,577,794,000 (One Billion, Five Hundred and Seventy-Seven Million, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Four Thousand Naira) only was paid by the State Government as examination fees for 58,188 students who were captured for year 2024 WASSCE,” Alli-Balogun announced.
To improve accountability and eliminate duplication, the state launched a biometric and image registration process for all Senior Secondary III students.
Through this initiative, 56,134 students were verified and registered as eligible for the 2025 WASSCE sponsorship.
The commissioner said, “The state government is committed to relieving parents of the burden of exam fees,” Alli-Balogun noted.
“But we must also prevent wastage by ensuring only qualified students benefit from this programme.”
Alli-Balogun further stated that approximately 30,000 out-of-school children were re-enrolled in public schools across Lagos during the review period—an effort aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts of youth disengagement.
He emphasised that this initiative was aligned with the Education and Technology pillar of the administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S+ agenda.
“We’ve introduced strategic interventions to address declining performances in WASSCE and other external examinations. Innovative solutions are being implemented, and we continue to invest heavily in education,” he said.
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