By Francesca Hangeior
The Federal Government has announced plans to launch a national digital platform designed to address longstanding challenges associated with fragmented education data, marking a significant step towards improving planning, policymaking and service delivery across Nigeria’s education sector.
The platform, known as the Digital National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS), will be officially unveiled on Wednesday alongside the launch of the Public DNEMIS Portal and the inauguration of DNEMIS State Implementation Teams. 
Speaking at a pre-launch media briefing in Abuja on Monday, the National Project Coordinator of the Special Programmes Operations and Implementation Unit in the Office of the Minister of Education, Mr Adebayo Onigbanjo, said the initiative was developed to address years of weak and inconsistent education data that have hindered effective governance of the sector.
“For many years, education planning and administration relied on fragmented systems, inconsistent reporting structures, 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,” he said.
According to Onigbanjo, the Federal Ministry of Education developed the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI) as a national framework to coordinate, standardise and strengthen education data management across all levels.
“At the centre of this transformation is DNEMIS, a flagship component of NEDI and a major milestone in Nigeria’s journey towards a modern, integrated and digitally enabled education management system,” he said.
He explained that the platform would provide timely, reliable and accessible data to support planning, budgeting, policymaking, monitoring and service delivery. It will also ensure that every learner, teacher, school and public investment in education is captured within a unified national database.
Onigbanjo said the reform demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring that education policies are driven by evidence rather than estimates.
“The progress recorded through NEDI and the implementation of DNEMIS reflects the Ministry’s broader commitment to ensuring that reforms are not only announced but effectively coordinated, implemented and measured,” he said, adding, “Data is no longer a back-office function; it is becoming the engine of education reform in Nigeria.”
Also speaking, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Education on Digital Communications and E-Learning, Miss Mojoyin Adebajo, said DNEMIS was developed on the globally recognised District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) platform to modernise education administration and strengthen evidence-based decision-making.
She noted that the platform would digitise the Annual School Census, replacing largely manual data collection processes with an integrated digital system.
“By digitising the Annual School Census process, the platform will provide government with timely, reliable and accessible education data to support planning, budgeting, policymaking and improved service delivery across Nigeria’s education system,” she said.
Adebajo added that the platform would generate up-to-date information on schools, learners, teachers and education infrastructure, leading to better resource allocation and improved monitoring of education programmes.
She further highlighted the Public DNEMIS Portal as a key feature, noting that it would, for the first time, make selected official education data publicly accessible to researchers, journalists, development partners, civil society organisations, policymakers and the general public.
“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.
The officials also acknowledged the technical support provided by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the University of Oslo in developing the initiative.
Nigeria’s education sector has long struggled with weak and fragmented data systems, making effective planning, budgeting, teacher deployment, infrastructure development and monitoring of education outcomes difficult.
The introduction of DNEMIS is expected to address these challenges by providing real-time, reliable education data to support ongoing reforms under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative led by the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa.
