Government Enrols over 32 Million Students on Education Data Platform

More than 32 million students have been captured on the Federal Government’s Digital National Education Information Management System (DNEMIS), ahead of the official launch of the platform on Wednesday, July 1.

The government explained that DNEMIS represents a major step towards building a comprehensive database for education planning and management.

The National Project Coordinator of the Special Programmes Operations and Implementation Unit in the Office of the Minister of Education, Mr. Adebayo Onigbanjo, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a press conference.

Onibanjo said that the digital platform would transform education administration through technology and data-driven decision-making.

He said DNEMIS is the core platform of the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI), an initiative under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), established to provide accurate, integrated and timely education data for planning, budgeting, policymaking and service delivery.

According to Onigbanjo, the platform replaces the fragmented data systems that have long constrained effective planning in the education sector.

“For many years, education planning relied on fragmented systems, inconsistent reporting structures and limited access to reliable data. DNEMIS changes that by ensuring that every learner, every school, every teacher and every investment in education is captured within a system that supports evidence-based decision-making,” he said.

He described education data as a strategic national asset, noting that the platform would strengthen transparency, accountability and governance across the sector.

Onigbanjo said the availability of reliable data would also support government efforts to tackle Nigeria’s out-of-school children challenge by enabling authorities to monitor enrolment, identify dropout patterns and target interventions where they are most needed.

“If you don’t measure, you can’t get a good sense of what the data is. Today, we already have 32 million students on the platform, and that gives us an indication of where learners are.

“We are also understanding their journey from when they start school and when they drop out. That gives us insight into their challenges and where investments need to go. Every school becomes visible, every student gets counted, every teacher is known, and every government expenditure in education becomes trackable. To a greater extent, this will stop wastage,” he said.

He added that the ultimate goal is to provide government with complete visibility into every learner’s educational journey, from enrolment through graduation, to improve learning outcomes and policy decisions.

Addressing concerns over data privacy, Onigbanjo said the platform was developed using globally recognised digital architecture with robust safeguards to protect personal information.

He explained that sensitive data would be masked while secure digital identity profiles would allow authorised users to access relevant information without exposing personal details.

Also speaking, the National Coordinator of the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI), Abubakar Isah, said the system fully complies with Nigeria’s data protection regulations and international data security standards.

“We recognise the importance of data protection. We are complying with the country’s data protection rules and taking every necessary precaution to ensure that this data is secure,” he said.

Isah noted that while schools and state governments would have access to their respective data, communities, alumni associations and development partners would be able to access selected non-sensitive information to support school improvement and strengthen public accountability.

Earlier, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Education on Digital Communications and E-Learning, Miss Mojoyin Adebajo, described DNEMIS as a major milestone in Nigeria’s digital education transformation.

She said the platform, developed on the globally recognised DHIS2 infrastructure, would digitise the Annual School Census and provide reliable information on schools, teachers, learners and education infrastructure across the country.

Adebajo added that Wednesday’s event would also witness the unveiling of the Public DNEMIS Portal, which will provide researchers, journalists, civil society organisations, development partners and members of the public with access to selected official education data through an interactive online platform.

She said the initiative underscores the Federal Ministry of Education’s commitment to promoting transparency, strengthening evidence-based planning and leveraging technology to improve educational outcomes nationwide.

The ministry acknowledged the technical support of UNICEF and the University of Oslo in developing the platform and announced that the event would also feature the inauguration of DNEMIS State Implementation Teams to support nationwide deployment of the initiative.