The Nigerian government will on Wednesday unveil the Digital National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS), a platform designed to consolidate all education data for schools and learners on a single portal accessible to the public. The launch will also inaugurate DNEMIS state implementation teams, according to a statement by Folasade Boriowo, spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Education.
Minister highlights benefits of unified data system
The statement quoted the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, as saying that DNEMIS will help eliminate fragmented education data, strengthen evidence-based planning, improve accountability, and enhance service delivery across Nigeria's education sector. The development of the platform is part of the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI), a reform under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI). The ministry has also introduced a Learner Identification Number (LIN), assigning every student a permanent academic identity throughout their educational journey.
More than 32 million students are enrolled on the DNEMIS portal, according to Adebayo Onigbanjo, National Project Coordinator of the Special Programmes Operations and Implementation Unit in the Office of the Minister of Education.
Digitising the annual school census
During a pre-launch media briefing in Abuja, Mojoyin Adebajo, Special Assistant to the minister on Digital Communications and E-Learning, explained 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. DHIS2 is a free, open-source software for collecting, reporting, analysing, and disseminating aggregate and individual-level data, developed by the Health Information Systems Programme (HISP) at the University of Oslo with support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and other donors.
Ms Adebajo said the platform will digitise the Annual School Census, replacing largely manual data collection processes with an integrated digital system capable of generating accurate, real-time information on schools, learners, teachers, and education infrastructure. She highlighted the Public DNEMIS Portal as a major innovation, noting that for the first time, selected official education data will be 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.
Partnerships and national framework
The education ministry acknowledged technical support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the University of Oslo, describing the collaboration as a demonstration of the importance of strategic partnerships in accelerating sustainable education reforms. Mr Onigbanjo said the initiative was conceived to address decades of weak, fragmented, and inconsistent education data that have constrained effective planning, policymaking, monitoring, and governance across the sector. He explained that NEDI was developed as a comprehensive national framework to harmonise, standardise, and strengthen education data management at all levels, with DNEMIS serving as its flagship digital platform.
According to him, DNEMIS will provide timely, reliable, and accessible data to support planning, budgeting, policymaking, monitoring, and improved service delivery, ensuring that every learner, teacher, school, and public investment in education is captured within a unified national database.
