The Federal Government has expressed deep concern over the alarming rate of school dropouts across the country, revealing that about 24 million pupils who enrolled in primary schools failed to advance to senior secondary level.

Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during a ministerial roundtable on zero-rated data and devices for Nigerian teachers.

He said data from the digitised Nigeria Education Management Information System (NEMIS) platform showed that out of 30 million pupils captured from 21 states, only six million progressed to senior secondary school.

According to him, statistics from NEMIS reveal a disturbing trend that poses a serious threat to Nigeria’s educational development and long-term human capital growth.

“The information we’re seeing on that digital platform is scary,” Alausa said. “From the 21 states that have uploaded their data, we have about 30 million children in primary schools.

“From primary to Junior Secondary School (JSS 1), that number drops to 10 million—20 million children gone.

“We can’t find them. Then, from Junior Secondary to Senior Secondary, another four million disappear. It’s scary. But now that we can see the data, we can start looking at evidence-based interventions and monitor outcomes.”

He stressed that the high dropout rate between primary and senior secondary levels underscores the need for targeted interventions to retain children in school, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The NEMIS platform, according to The Guardian, is a web-based system that collects, processes, and provides reliable real-time education data to aid decision-making at the national, state, and local levels.

With this, Nigeria joins countries like Kenya and Sri Lanka that employ similar systems to enhance education management.

Alausa explained that the biometrics of every schoolchild are being uploaded onto the digitised platform to enable tracking and data-driven policy implementation. He added that beginning from 2026, the annual school census will be fully digital.

“It’s not manual anymore. Paper will be taken out completely,” he stated, noting that the Ministry plans to integrate West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) data into the system.

He expressed appreciation to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for its technical support and to President Bola Tinubu for providing financial and political backing for the initiative.

The Minister also revealed that over 60,000 tablets have been distributed to schoolchildren in Adamawa, Oyo, and Katsina States under the Airtech (Amazon Web Services) and BESDA programmes, with an additional 30,000 devices expected soon.

“We’ve also launched a smartboard—two weeks ago,” he said. “Our goal is that by 2027, every school in Nigeria will have a smartboard.

“This is how we can cascade high-quality education to every child, irrespective of where they live, their background, or their parents’ social status.”

Alausa explained that the deployment of interactive smartboards would gradually replace traditional chalkboards in public schools, enabling a more dynamic, engaging, and technology-driven classroom experience.

He noted that the devices would allow teachers to integrate multimedia, digital textbooks, and real-time interactions into lessons, helping students to not only listen but also explore, engage, and participate actively in the learning process. (THE GUARDIAN)