By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
The Federal Government has unveiled the Digital National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS), a unified digital platform designed to track every school, learner, teacher and public investment in Nigeria’s education sector, in a move aimed at strengthening planning, transparency, accountability and service delivery.
The platform will be officially launched Wednesday, 1 July, 2026, alongside the Public DNEMIS Portal and the inauguration of DNEMIS State Implementation Teams.
The initiative is a major component of the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI), one of the flagship reforms under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) being championed by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa.
Addressing journalists during a pre-launch media briefing in Abuja, 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 conceived to address decades of fragmented, weak and inconsistent education data that have hindered effective planning, policymaking, monitoring and governance across the education sector.
He explained that the Federal Ministry of Education developed NEDI as a comprehensive national framework to harmonise, standardise and strengthen education data management across all levels of education, with DNEMIS serving as its flagship digital platform.
According to Onigbanjo, the platform will provide timely, reliable and accessible data to support planning, budgeting, policymaking, monitoring and improved service delivery, while ensuring that every learner, teacher, school and public investment in education is captured within a single national database.
“The initiative reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring that education reforms are driven by credible evidence rather than assumptions,” he said.
Onigbanjo added that the progress recorded under NEDI demonstrates the Ministry’s resolve to ensure that education reforms are effectively coordinated, implemented and evaluated.
“Data is no longer a back-office function; it is now the engine driving education reform in Nigeria,” he declared.
Also speaking, the Minister’s Special Assistant on Digital Communications and E-Learning, Miss Mojoyin Adebajo, disclosed that 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 explained that the platform would digitise the Annual School Census, replacing the predominantly manual data collection process with an integrated digital system capable of generating accurate, real-time information on schools, learners, teachers and education infrastructure nationwide.
According to her, the innovation will improve resource allocation, strengthen programme monitoring and support more effective planning and service delivery across the education sector.
Adebajo described the Public DNEMIS Portal as one of the initiative’s landmark innovations, saying that, for the first time, verified education data would be made publicly accessible to researchers, policymakers, journalists, development partners, civil society organisations and the general public.
“This will promote transparency, improve access to credible information and encourage broader stakeholder participation in shaping the future of education in Nigeria,” she said.
The Ministry also acknowledged the technical support provided by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the University of Oslo, describing the collaboration as evidence of the importance of strategic partnerships in driving sustainable education reforms.
It noted that DNEMIS is expected to bridge longstanding gaps in education data management by providing a single, integrated and trusted national database that supports real-time decision-making, strengthens coordination between federal and state education institutions and advances the Renewed Hope Agenda for quality education.
The Federal Ministry of Education reaffirmed its commitment to working with state governments, development partners and other stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of DNEMIS, saying the initiative will foster a more transparent, technology-driven, efficient and globally competitive education system that delivers quality learning opportunities for every Nigerian child.
