The Federal Government has unveiled the Digital National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS), a landmark digital platform designed to track schools, learners, teachers and education infrastructure across Nigeria, marking a major step towards improving planning, transparency and accountability in the country’s education sector.
The platform, scheduled for official launch on July 1, alongside the Public DNEMIS Portal and the inauguration of DNEMIS State Implementation Teams, aims to end years of fragmented education records by creating a single, reliable national database to drive evidence-based policymaking and service delivery.
Speaking 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 introduced to tackle decades of weak, inconsistent and disconnected education data that have slowed effective planning, monitoring and governance.
According to him, DNEMIS is the flagship digital platform under the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI), a key reform initiative within the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) spearheaded by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa.
Onigbanjo explained that the platform will provide timely, reliable and accessible data to support planning, budgeting, policymaking and performance monitoring, while ensuring every learner, teacher, school and public investment in education is captured in one integrated national database.
He stressed that the initiative reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to making education reforms data-driven rather than assumption-based.
“The progress achieved through NEDI and the implementation of DNEMIS demonstrates the Ministry’s commitment to ensuring that reforms are effectively coordinated, implemented and measured. Data is no longer a back-office function; it is now the engine driving education reform in Nigeria,” he said.
Also speaking, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Education on Digital Communications and E-Learning, Miss Mojoyin Adebajo, said DNEMIS was built 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 system will digitise the Annual School Census, replacing largely manual data collection with a unified digital platform capable of generating accurate, real-time information on schools, learners, teachers and education infrastructure nationwide.
According to Adebajo, the innovation will improve resource allocation, strengthen programme monitoring and enhance service delivery across the education sector.
She added that one of the platform’s biggest innovations is the Public DNEMIS Portal, which will, for the first time, make selected official education data publicly available to researchers, policymakers, journalists, development partners, civil society organisations and the general public.
The Ministry said the portal will promote transparency, improve access to credible education data and encourage wider stakeholder participation in shaping Nigeria’s education sector.
The Federal Ministry of Education acknowledged the technical support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the University of Oslo in developing the platform.
The ministry expressed confidence that DNEMIS will bridge long-standing gaps in education data management by providing a trusted, integrated national database that supports real-time decision-making, strengthens collaboration between federal and state education institutions, and advances the Renewed Hope Agenda for quality education.
It reaffirmed its commitment to partnering with state governments, development partners and other stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative and build a more transparent, technology-driven and globally competitive education system.
