The Federal Government has raised alarm over the alarming rate of school dropouts in Nigeria.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, revealed on Thursday, October 23, that approximately 24 million pupils who enrolled in primary schools failed to reach senior secondary school.
Speaking in Abuja during a ministerial roundtable on zero-rated data and devices for Nigerian teachers, Alausa cited data from the digitised Nigeria Education Management Information System (NEMIS). He noted that out of 30 million pupils captured from 21 states, only six million progressed to senior secondary school.
According to the minister, the figures highlight a troubling trend that threatens 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 are missing. Then, from Junior Secondary to Senior Secondary, another four million disappear. It’s alarming. But now that we have the data, we can start implementing evidence-based interventions and monitor outcomes.”
He emphasized that the high dropout rate, particularly between primary and senior secondary levels, underscores the urgent need for targeted measures to retain students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Alausa explained that every schoolchild’s biometric data is being uploaded onto NEMIS to enable effective tracking and data-driven policy implementation. He added that starting in 2026, the annual school census will be fully digital.
“It’s no longer manual. Paper records will be completely phased out,” he said, noting plans to integrate data from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) into the system.
He also expressed gratitude to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for its technical support and to President Bola Tinubu for providing both financial and political backing for the initiative.
