FG to replace manual school census with national digital education platform

The Federal Government is set to replace Nigeria’s largely manual Annual School Census with a national digital education management platform, in a move aimed at improving the quality of education data and strengthening evidence-based planning and policymaking across the sector.

The new platform, known as the Digital National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS), will be officially unveiled on Wednesday alongside the launch of the Public DNEMIS Portal and the inauguration of State Implementation Teams.

Speaking during a pre-launch media briefing in Abuja on Monday, Adebayo Onigbanjo, National Project Coordinator of the Special Programmes Operations and Implementation Unit in the Office of the Minister of Education, said the initiative was developed to address longstanding challenges posed by fragmented education data systems.

According to Onigbanjo, education planning and administration in Nigeria have for years relied on inconsistent reporting structures and limited access to reliable and timely data, constraining effective planning, accountability and the sector’s ability to respond to emerging needs.

To address these challenges, the Federal Ministry of Education developed the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI), a national framework designed to coordinate, standardise and strengthen education data management across all levels of education.

“At the centre of this transformation is DNEMIS, a flagship component of NEDI and a major milestone in Nigeria’s journey toward a modern, integrated and digitally enabled education management system,” he said.

He explained that the platform would provide timely, reliable and accessible data to support planning, budgeting, policymaking, monitoring and service delivery, while creating a unified national database covering learners, teachers, schools and public investments in education.

“The progress recorded through NEDI and the implementation of DNEMIS reflects the Ministry’s broader commitment to ensuring that reforms are not only announced, but effectively coordinated, implemented and measured. Data is no longer a back-office function; it is becoming the engine of education reform in Nigeria,” Onigbanjo said

Also speaking, Mojoyin Adebajo, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Education on Digital Communications and E-Learning, said the platform was built on the globally recognised District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) platform to modernise education administration and strengthen evidence-based decision-making.

She noted that digitising the Annual School Census would replace largely manual data collection processes with a more integrated digital system capable of generating timely and accurate information on schools, teachers, learners and education infrastructure.

According to Adebajo, the improved data system will support more efficient resource allocation, budgeting and monitoring of education programmes nationwide.

She added that the Public DNEMIS Portal would, for the first time, provide researchers, journalists, policymakers, development partners, civil society organisations and members of the public with access to selected official education data, promoting greater transparency and wider participation in education policy discussions.

Officials also acknowledged the technical support provided by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the University of Oslo in developing the initiative.

Nigeria’s education sector has long grappled with fragmented and largely manual data collection systems, making it difficult to accurately track school enrolment, teacher deployment, infrastructure needs and learning outcomes. The Federal Government expects the new digital platform to provide the reliable data needed to improve planning, resource allocation and service delivery across the education system.