The Federal Government has fixed Wednesday, July 1, 2026, for the official unveiling of the Digital National Education Management Information System, DNEMIS, as part of efforts to modernise education administration through technology and data-driven governance.
Ahead of the launch, the National Project Coordinator of the Special Programmes Operations and Implementation Unit, SPOIU, in the Office of the Minister of Education, Mr. Adebayo Onigbanjo, disclosed on Monday in Abuja that more than 32 million students had already been enrolled on the digital platform.
According to Onigbanjo, the platform forms the backbone of the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure, NEDI, an initiative under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative, NESRI, designed to provide reliable, timely and integrated education data for planning, budgeting, policymaking and service delivery.
“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, stressing that the digital platform would strengthen governance, transparency and accountability across the education sector.
Responding to questions on how the platform would help address Nigeria’s out-of-school children challenge, Onigbanjo said the availability of accurate data would enable government to identify learning gaps, monitor students’ progress and make targeted investments where they are most needed.
“If you don’t measure, you can’t get a good sense of the data. 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 on education becomes trackable. To a greater extent, this will stop wastage,” he stated.
Onigbanjo explained that the ultimate objective is to provide visibility into the educational journey of every learner from entry into formal education until completion.
“We are trying to achieve the ability to have visibility of all learners from the day they begin formal education until they leave the system. This provides government with the information needed to plan effectively and improve learning outcomes,” he added.
Addressing concerns over data privacy, he said the system was developed on a globally recognised digital architecture with robust safeguards to protect personal information.
According to him, sensitive information would be masked, while digital identity profiles would enable authorised users to securely associate data without exposing personal details.
Also speaking, the National Coordinator of the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure, NEDI, Abubakar Isah, said the system fully complies with Nigeria’s data protection regulations and incorporates internationally accepted 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,” Isah said.
He added that while schools and state governments would have access to their own information, communities, alumni associations and development partners would also be able to view non-sensitive school data to support educational development.
“The idea is to allow communities to know what their schools need so they can contribute to improving them while also holding government accountable,” he noted.
Earlier, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Education on Digital Communications and E-Learning, Miss Mojoyin Adebajo, described DNEMIS as a landmark 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 nationwide.
Adebajo also announced that Wednesday’s event would feature the launch of the Public DNEMIS Portal, which will, for the first time, 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 reflects the Federal Ministry of Education’s commitment to strengthening evidence-based planning, improving transparency and leveraging technology to deliver better educational outcomes for Nigerian learners.
The Federal Ministry of Education acknowledged the technical support of UNICEF and the University of Oslo in developing the initiative and invited stakeholders to participate in Wednesday’s official unveiling of the platform and the inauguration of the DNEMIS State Implementation Teams.
