The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has announced that the Federal Government has successfully reintegrated at least one million out-of-school children into the Nigerian education system over the past year.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television, Dr. Alausa said the achievement resulted from a nationwide intervention strategy that leverages technology and accurate data mapping. He noted that the government was moving away from relying solely on external estimates, such as the UNESCO report that placed Nigeria’s out-of-school population at 15 million. Instead, the ministry is generating its own data through evidence-based processes.
“We’ve taken ownership of our education data,” he said. “In our mapping exercise across seven states, only about 700,000 out-of-school children were identified so far. That figure of 15 or 18 million was based on external estimates, not local evidence.”
Alausa explained that through the use of technology, the ministry has been able to identify, track, enroll, and monitor students. “As I speak today, I can confidently say one million children have returned to school through our efforts,” he said.
He also highlighted the ministry’s collaboration with the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children, particularly in the northern region, where the traditional almajiri system presents unique challenges. According to him, field assessments in states like Abia revealed little to no significant out-of-school population.
The minister credited the progress to the deployment of a digital education dashboard, which now collects and displays real-time data on the education sector nationwide. This system captures key indicators, including student enrollment, infrastructure availability, teacher allocation, and classroom performance across all levels—federal, state, local government, and ward level.
“For the first time in our history, we now have a live education dashboard that gives a comprehensive picture of school activities across the country,” Alausa stated. “We’ve transitioned from the outdated manual annual school census to a cloud-based system that gives us real-time insights.”
He added that biometric data is now being used to register students, enabling the government to track attendance, monitor dropout rates, and analyze household-level trends that may lead to children leaving school.
“These children are now linked to their households through biometric tagging,” Alausa explained. “This allows us to understand why they may leave school and intervene accordingly. It’s no longer about quoting large numbers; it’s about tracking individual lives with credible data.”
According to him, Nigeria has moved from “flying blind” to data-driven, evidence-based planning. He said the digital system now enables government officials—from commissioners to school administrators—to monitor performance and implement timely interventions.
Dr. Alausa expressed optimism that, with sustained political will, increased funding, and expanded use of digital monitoring tools, the number of children returned to school will continue to rise in the coming months. He described the achievement as part of President Bola Tinubu’s broader agenda for human capital development through education.
“We are building an education system rooted in facts, not speculation,” the minister said. “And with the framework we now have in place, the results are already becoming evident.”
