By Kwin Israel, The Sight News
The Federal Government has fixed Wednesday, July 1, 2026, for the official launch of the Digital National Education Information Management System (DNEMIS), a major initiative aimed at modernising education administration through technology and data-driven governance.
Ahead of the launch, National Project Coordinator of the Special Programmes Operations and Implementation Unit in the Office of the Minister of Education, Adebayo Onigbanjo, on Monday in Abuja, disclosed that over 32 million students have already been enrolled on the digital platform.
According to Onigbanjo, DNEMIS serves as 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, noting that the digital platform would significantly strengthen governance, transparency and accountability across Nigeria’s education sector.
Addressing concerns about Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis, Onigbanjo said the availability of accurate and comprehensive data would enable the government to identify learning gaps, monitor students’ progress and channel investments to areas of greatest need.
“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 stated.
He explained that the ultimate goal of the initiative is to provide visibility into the educational journey of every learner, from entry into formal education to 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 the government with the information needed to plan effectively and improve learning outcomes,” he added.
On data privacy concerns, Onigbanjo assured stakeholders that the platform was built on globally recognised digital architecture with robust safeguards to protect personal information.
According to him, sensitive information will be masked, while digital identity profiles will enable authorised users to securely access relevant 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 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 further explained that while schools and state governments would have access to their respective data, communities, alumni associations and development partners would be able to view non-sensitive information to support educational development and accountability.
“The idea is to allow communities to know what their schools need so they can contribute to improving them while also holding the 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 initiative in Nigeria’s digital education transformation.
She explained that 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 the launch event would feature the unveiling of the Public DNEMIS Portal, which will, for the first time, provide researchers, journalists, civil society organisations, development partners and the general 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 provided by 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 DNEMIS State Implementation Teams.
