FG unveils data-driven reforms to improve learning outcome
By Uji A Iliyasu Abuja
The Government President has unveiled a new strategy aimed at improving learning outcomes through a unified national education data system designed to strengthen planning, transparency and accountability in the sector.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during the National Stakeholders’ Workshop on the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI).
The minister expressed concern that despite significant investments by development partners in some parts of the country over the last decade, literacy and numeracy levels in those regions remained poor.
He said records showed that nearly 80 per cent of donor funding for education had been concentrated in two geopolitical zones without producing the desired results.
“As we look at our data, about 80 per cent of development financing investments in the last 10 years went to two geopolitical zones in the country. Those two zones still have the lowest literacy and numeracy rates in the country. So, it is like wasted investment,” Alausa said.
He explained that the NEDI platform would serve as a centralised database to support evidence-based decision-making and harmonise education statistics across the country.
Alausa noted that the absence of a unified education database in the past had led to fragmented planning and made it difficult to assess the impact of interventions, adding that the new platform would provide real-time data on school infrastructure, teacher qualifications, learner performance and with the greatest needs.
The minister further revealed that the Federal Government was adopting an outcome-based funding model supported by technology and data analytics to improve accountability and transparency in the education sector.
“We know where investments need to go, but as we invest, are we getting the outcomes we need? And if we are not getting those outcomes, what do we need to do? How do we return to the drawing board? Today, we are doing things based on data,” he said.
Alausa also stated that the government was focused on harnessing Nigeria’s youthful population through improved education quality and better alignment between academic training and labour market demands.
He disclosed that the Nationwide Learner Identification Number (NLIN), linked to the National Identification Number (NIN), would enable authorities to track students throughout their academic journey and strengthen education planning nationwide.
He said the initiative already allows government agencies to monitor enrolment figures, infrastructure, teacher availability and learning outcomes across more than 240,000 schools in the country.
The minister clarified that the learner identification programme was not a separate identity scheme but an integration with the existing NIN system to create permanent learner records from basic to tertiary education.
“With this platform, we can know the number of students, teachers’ qualifications, available classrooms, computers and even water facilities in any school from one dashboard,” he added.
He further stated that labour market data would eventually be integrated into the system to guide students towards courses relevant to national workforce needs, while entrepreneurship training would be strengthened in tertiary institutions to promote self-reliance among graduates.
Earlier, NEDI Coordinator, Abubakar Isah, said the platform was established to improve educational outcomes, strengthen accountability and ensure efficient allocation of resources across the country.
Isah explained that prior to the initiative, education data in Nigeria existed in disconnected systems with weak coordination and inconsistent reporting structures, thereby limiting effective policy implementation.
Also speaking, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, described the initiative as a critical tool for advancing child protection, girls’ education and social inclusion.
She noted that reliable education data would enable government institutions to identify gaps and deploy interventions more effectively.
In his remarks, Ifeanyi Ossai said the initiative represented vital national infrastructure capable of driving evidence-based planning and national development, recalling that an audit conducted by the Enugu State government after assuming office revealed poor conditions in many public schools, prompting the construction of 267 smart green schools across the state’s 260 wards.