Nigeria’s Education Minister Flags 15 Million Out‑of‑School Children, Calls for Data‑Driven Reform

*TL;DR Nigeria faces 15 million out‑of‑school children; the education ministry is rolling out digital tracking and billions in grants to reverse the trend.*

Context At the 2026 Basic Education Bootcamp in Jos, Plateau State, Education Minister Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa warned that roughly 15 million Nigerian children are currently not enrolled in school. The figure underscores a long‑standing crisis that threatens social stability and economic growth.

Key Facts Alausa stressed that reliable data is the backbone of any reform. Without knowing where children are and why they are absent, policies cannot be targeted. To that end, the ministry is expanding the Digital National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) and accelerating the Learner Identification Number (LIN) rollout, enabling real‑time tracking of every student.

The 2025/2026 Annual School Census has already recorded over two million learners, providing a baseline for enrollment drives. Nearly one million out‑of‑school children have been mapped for reintegration into formal schools or alternative learning pathways.

From January 2025 to January 2026, states received more than ₦106 billion in Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) matching grants to strengthen basic education. An additional ₦22 billion funded teacher professional development, training about 978 000 teachers nationwide. Infrastructure upgrades include renovation of over 10 000 classrooms and distribution of 7.8 million textbooks.

Targeted programmes for vulnerable groups are also expanding. The government trained 1 400 Tsangaya teachers, identified 119 learning centres, and deployed 760 enumerators to improve community‑level data collection.

What It Means The minister’s data‑centric approach aims to shift from broad policy statements to measurable outcomes. By linking granular learner data with substantial financial resources, the government hopes to close enrollment gaps, improve literacy and numeracy, and reduce the social risks associated with large out‑of‑school populations. Monitoring the rollout of NEMIS, LIN and the impact of UBEC grants will be critical indicators of progress.

*Watch for the first quarterly report on enrollment gains and the effectiveness of digital tracking tools as the 2026‑2027 school year unfolds.*