Shocking! Over 31,000 Lagos Students Fail 2024 WASSCE Despite ₦1.5 Billion Government Funding

The Lagos status administration expressed alarm over the status of education in the state yesterday after revealing that 31,596 pupils from public secondary schools failed the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, or WASSCE.

This was revealed by Mr. Jamiu Alli-Balogun, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, at the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing in Alausa, Ikeja.

The commissioner revealed the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration’s scorecard for the education sector, stating that the government had spent ¦ 1,577,794,000 to pay for 58,188 legitimate students’ exam fees as part of its free education program.

More than half of the sponsored applicants failed the test in spite of this large investment, casting doubt on the standard of education and readiness of the students in Lagos public schools.

“The state government is committed to relieving parents of the burden of exam fees,” Alli-Balogun stated. However, we must also make sure that only eligible pupils gain from this program in order to avoid waste.

In an effort to lessen the social and economic effects of juvenile disengagement, the Commissioner also revealed that over 30,000 out-of-school children have been reenrolled in public schools throughout Lagos during the evaluation period.

“To address declining performances in WASSCE and other external examinations, we have implemented strategic interventions,” he stated. We are still making significant investments in education, and creative solutions are being put into practice.

The Eko Learners’ Support Programme, which was introduced on January 14, 2025, was emphasized by the commissioner as a focused intervention to help applicants get ready for the WASSCE and NECO exams.

Governor Sanwo-Olu authorized ¦ 102.5 million in home loans for 2024 in an effort to improve teacher welfare.
This sum paid for 93 newly accepted beneficiaries in 2024 as well as 25 pending applications from 2020.

He said, “These teachers were deployed across various education districts and the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board, LASTVEB,” to the list of 4,353 competent teachers who were hired between 2023 and 2024.
The state government is aggressively repositioning its tertiary institutions for maximum impact in accordance with its wider developmental aims, according to Mr. Tolani Sule, Commissioner for Tertiary Education, who also spoke during a separate briefing.