The Federal Government will on Wednesday, July 1, officially launch the Digital National Education Information Management System (DNEMIS), a technology-driven platform designed to transform education planning, management and service delivery across Nigeria.
Ahead of the unveiling, the National Project Coordinator of the Special Programmes Operations and Implementation Unit in the Office of the Minister of Education, Mr. Adebayo Onigbanjo, disclosed on Monday in Abuja that more than 32 million students have already been enrolled on the platform.
Onigbanjo explained that DNEMIS serves as the foundation of the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI), an initiative under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), aimed at providing accurate, timely and integrated education data to improve 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 platform would enhance governance, transparency and accountability throughout the education sector.
Speaking on the country’s out-of-school children challenge, Onigbanjo said the availability of credible data would enable government to identify learning gaps, monitor students’ educational journeys and direct resources 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 said.
According to him, the long-term goal is to monitor the educational journey of every learner from enrolment into formal education through graduation, providing government with the information required to improve learning outcomes.
Addressing concerns over data privacy, Onigbanjo assured that the platform was built on globally recognised digital architecture with robust safeguards to protect users’ 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 Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI), Abubakar Isah, said the system complies fully 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 added that while schools and state governments would have access to their respective data, communities, alumni associations and development partners would also be able to access non-sensitive information to support school improvement efforts and promote accountability.
“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 said.
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 using the globally recognised DHIS2 infrastructure, would digitise the Annual School Census and provide reliable nationwide data on schools, teachers, learners and education infrastructure.
Adebajo also announced that the launch would include the unveiling of the Public DNEMIS Portal, an interactive platform that will provide researchers, journalists, civil society organisations, development partners and members of the public with access to selected official education data for the first time.
She said the initiative underscores the Federal Ministry of Education’s commitment to evidence-based planning, greater transparency and the use of technology to improve education outcomes across the country.
The ministry acknowledged the technical support provided by UNICEF and the University of Oslo in developing the platform and invited stakeholders to participate in Wednesday’s official launch, which will also feature the inauguration of DNEMIS State Implementation Teams.
