FG unveils digital education data system July 1

The federal government will unveil its Digital Education Data System (DNEMIS), on Wednesday, July 1, marking a significant step toward strengthening data-driven planning, policy formulation, and decision-making in Nigeria’s education sector.

The platform is expected to provide real-time, reliable education data to improve resource allocation, enhance transparency, and support reforms across all levels of education.

Adebayo Onigbanjo, the national project coordinator, Special Programmes Operations and Implementation Unit (SPOIU), Office of the minister of education, made this known at a news conference in Abuja on Monday.

Onigbanjo described DNEMIS as a flagship component of the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure being implemented under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative.

DNEMIS is a digital platform designed to standardise education data management across all levels of schooling in Nigeria and end years of fragmented, inconsistent reporting that has constrained evidence-based planning and governance.

He emphasised that the platform would ensure every learner, school, teacher, and education investment is captured in a unified system capable of supporting planning, policymaking, budgeting, monitoring, and service delivery in real time.

Besides, Onigbanjo said Nigeria’s education sector had long been hampered by fragmented systems and limited access to reliable data, and that DNEMIS represents a structural fix to a problem that has weakened accountability and constrained the sector’s ability to respond to emerging challenges.

“For many years, education planning and administration relied on fragmented systems, inconsistent reporting processes and limited access to reliable and timely data. These challenges constrained effective planning, weakened accountability and limited the sector’s ability to respond to emerging realities.

“Data is no longer a back-office function. It is becoming the engine of education reform in Nigeria,” he said.

Mojoyin Adebajo, the special assistant to the minister on digital communications and e-Learning, said DNEMIS will digitise the annual school census process, and for the first time, make selected official education data publicly accessible through an interactive portal.

“This represents an important step towards expanding access to information and encouraging broader participation in conversations that shape the future of education in Nigeria,” she said.

Adebajo said the portal would enable government institutions, researchers, development partners, civil society organisations, the private sector, journalists, and members of the public to access and engage with official education data.

Saka Ibraheem, the UNICEF’s Education Specialist for Planning, Monitoring, Data and Research, said the longer-term goal is to integrate all education management platforms into a single national system before the end of next year.

“Before next year, we hope to have the education management information system, teacher management information system and individual learner records in one system. One system for education and one system for Nigeria,” he said.

He added that the integrated system will include a unique identifier to track school enrolment and out-of-school children across the country, enabling authorities to reduce school dropouts by tracking learners seamlessly as they move through the education system.

Abubakar Isah, the NEDI coordinator, said the ministry has taken measures to ensure the platform complies with Nigeria’s data protection laws and safeguards education data appropriately.

The launch of DNEMIS on Wednesday, July 1, will happen just days after the launch of the National Learning Assessment Week.

According to the Federal Ministry of Education, the assessment is aimed at generating reliable data on students’ learning outcomes to guide education planning, policy reforms, resource distribution, and interventions to improve the quality of learning across the country.