The Federal Government is moving to introduce a National Learner Identification Number and integrate education and identity databases to tackle certificate racketeering, discrepancies in graduates’ records and other identity-related challenges undermining the credibility of Nigeria’s education system.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, made the disclosure when the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen. Olakunle Nafiu, led a delegation of the Corps to the Ministry in Abuja.
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Alausa said the proposed identification system, alongside the integration of learner records across the education system, would help establish a single and reliable identity for every learner from the beginning of their educational journey.
He said the reforms were also aimed at ensuring that genuine graduates were not denied access to national service or employment because of inconsistencies in their educational or identity records.
According to him, the government was strengthening digital systems for the collection, verification and exchange of academic records as part of efforts to protect the integrity of Nigerian qualifications.
Alausa said the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank (NERD) was already collecting and verifying university certificates, tracking learners across the education system and providing support to tertiary institutions through help-desk officers.
He added that the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI) would connect records across different stages of a learner’s educational journey, thereby making it easier to authenticate qualifications and identify individuals.
The Minister also disclosed that the Ministry had digitised its Education Support Services end-to-end, including certificate verification and processes involving foreign applicants.
He said discussions were ongoing with NYSC to develop an application programming interface (API) that would facilitate faster and seamless verification and exchange of relevant graduate data between both institutions.
Alausa said the digital reforms were particularly necessary because discrepancies in educational and identity records had left some qualified graduates unable to participate fully in national service and the labour market.
He identified discrepancies in names, challenges affecting graduates of part-time National Diploma programmes and the admission of holders of the National Certificate in Education (NCE) into Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes as some of the issues requiring urgent intervention.
To address the challenges, the Minister said the Ministry would work with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and other relevant agencies.
He said the agencies would work towards developing a lasting framework for recording and sequencing names consistently across government education and identity databases.
Alausa also said the government had intensified efforts to curb examination malpractice, particularly the leakage of examination questions, stressing the need to sustain the gains and extend the measures to tertiary institutions.
The Minister commended NYSC for embracing technology and supporting the government’s drive to improve the credibility of education records. He said stronger collaboration between the Ministry and NYSC would reduce opportunities for fraud while ensuring that authentic learner and graduate information could be verified and exchanged more efficiently.
Responding, the NYSC Director-General, Brig. Gen. Nafiu, said the Corps was ready to deepen its partnership with the Ministry to advance the digital transformation of Nigeria’s education sector.
Nafiu said NYSC had been pursuing digitalisation since 2014 and had developed systems capable of providing reliable information on Corps Members and their deployment.
He disclosed that the Corps had complied with the directive of the Federal Executive Council on collaboration with NERD and was prepared to further strengthen the partnership.
The NYSC boss said technology had significantly improved the integrity of the Corps’ operations, citing the introduction of QR codes which, according to him, had virtually eliminated document cloning within the organisation.
Nafiu, who assured that NYSC would continue to strengthen its verification systems to stay ahead of emerging fraudulent practices, also said the Corps was working to resolve challenges surrounding graduates of part-time National Diploma programmes, HND mobilisation and the admission of NCE holders into HND programmes.
He disclosed that discussions with the new JAMB Registrar had resulted in an understanding to create a window through which graduates affected by discrepancies in their names could regularise their records in collaboration with NIMC.
The NYSC DG called for a broader meeting involving JAMB, NIMC, NYSC and the Ministry of Education to develop a permanent solution to the challenges.
He said a nationally coordinated system anchored on a unique Learner Identification Number would prevent similar problems from recurring.
