The Federal Government has launched the Learner Identification Number (LIN), a digital scheme designed to assign every student in Nigeria a permanent academic identity, in what the Ministry of Education has described as the country’s first nationwide learner tracking system.
Announcing the launch, the Minister of Education, Maruf Tunji Alausa, said the initiative is a transformational milestone under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its focus on human capital development and technology-driven reforms in the education sector.
As part of the scheme’s first phase, over 1.9 million candidates registered for the 2026 examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) have already been issued LINs, with the ministry saying this will bolster education data management and improve examination integrity.
The LIN is integrated with the Digitised National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS), a national register of schools, enabling continuous tracking of student academic progression from the basic to the tertiary level.
Beyond tracking, the ministry said the system would enhance examination security by curbing impersonation, while also providing reliable data to support identification of out-of-school children, school dropouts, and learning gaps across the country.
The ministry added that it would progressively extend the scheme to all public and private schools nationwide, and urged education stakeholders and school administrators at all levels to support its full implementation.
The Federal Ministry of Education restated its commitment to building a transparent, inclusive, and data-driven education system as a foundation for sustainable national development.
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