Tinubu orders conduct of all schools, teachers census

Tinubu orders conduct of all schools, teachers census 

 

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the conduct of a census in the education sector to aid proper planning.

The directive which came on Thursday is aimed at producing accurate data on all schools in Nigeria from primary to tertiary level, their present conditions and facilities, proximity to one another and infrastructure.

It is also know the number of teachers in the country, their qualifications, training support received; number of pupils and students in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions, gender, and exam grades.

A statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Bayo Onanuga said the policy DOTS, an acronym for Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training and Development, and Skill Development and Acquisition, will comprehensively overhaul the education sector.

This, he said, would improve learning and skill development, increase enrolment and ensure the academic security of the nation’s children.

According to the Presidency, the information that will be derived from the exercise will guide federal and state interventions for teachers’ training and development as well as overall support.

The statement read in part, “It will also provide data on gender ratio (boys and girls), their specific learning needs, and who is in school or who has dropped out based on daily monitoring with year-by-year reporting.

“There will be a dedicated portal/dashboard in the Federal Ministry of Education, offices of state governors, and local government chairpersons, which will host and disseminate this information for the federal government, states, and local governments to monitor in real time.

“This new data tracking architecture will enable the government to track the progress of students, thus having a clear data-driven mechanism for interventions, especially concerning out-of-school children, [especially] girls, and those with specific learning disabilities, among others.”

The Presidency also gave an update on out-of-school children’s education and training.

It said the Federal Ministry of Education was already implementing the government’s policy through the activities of four of its agencies, with about two million beneficiaries recorded thus far.