The Federal Government says it will sign a partnership contract with an ICT firm to generate data on all schools in Nigeria to tackle challenges in the sector.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed this in Abuja on Monday at a two-day capacity-building workshop for desk officers in the ministry, its departments, and agencies.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the capacity-building workshop focuses on the implementation, collation, harmonization, and reporting of ministerial deliverables.
“It is our plan that by the end of this year or early next year, we will be signing a partnership contract with a firm that will be working with our IT people to generate data on all schools in Nigeria.
“This is because we need to know our teachers and every single student; we need data to know the trend of learning and our school infrastructure.
“This exercise will enhance decision-making and policy formulation as the data collected and collated will aid evidence-based planning, measure implementation and progress, and identify areas where improvement is required,’’ he said.
Mamman added that the data would help advise the state governments on the right policy to make that would affect the schools positively.
He charged heads of MDAs, desk officers, and other participants to tailor their programmes, activities, and projects towards the realisation of the deliverables.
“The uppermost focus of the Ministry in general is in the areas of ensuring the generation of credible, timely, and reliable education data at all levels and the promotion of skill development.
“It is also in the enhancement of skill development across the entire education landscape for innovative and employability education; teacher training and development; and reducing the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
“I believe if we get it right in education, everything else will fall into place.
“The doctors who man our hospitals, the nurses who deliver the vaccines, the engineers in charge of our construction work—everybody is the by-product of our activities,’’ he said.
The minister commended the government of Kaduna State and the security organisations for helping in the release of the 287 abducted schoolchildren in the state.
The Senior Education Officer, Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), Ian Attfield, pledged to support the government in actualizing the deliverables and addressing the learning crisis through continuing education financing.
It will be recalled that President Bola Tinubu, in his Renewed Hope Agenda for the Education Sector, signed 23 Ministerial Deliverables and the 13 Pillars of the Education Sector Roadmap 2024-2027.
The deliverables are: strengthening research and innovation in the education sector; reviewing the status of the technical and vocational education board; strengthening the education management information system, among others. (NAN)
