FG Raises Alarm Over 24 Million School Dropouts in Nigeria

‎The Federal Government has voiced deep concern over the growing number of Nigerian children who leave school before completing their education.

‎Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this troubling revelation on Thursday, October 23, during a ministerial roundtable in Abuja focused on providing zero-rated data and devices for teachers across the country.

‎According to him, recent figures from the digitised Nigeria Education Management Information System (NEMIS) paint a worrying picture of Nigeria’s educational reality. Out of about 30 million pupils recorded from 21 states, only six million made it to senior secondary school.

‎“The data we’re seeing on that platform is alarming,” Alausa said.

‎“From the 21 states that uploaded their records, we have about 30 million children in primary schools. But by Junior Secondary School (JSS 1), that number drops to 10 million. That means 20 million children are missing. Then from JSS to Senior Secondary, another four million disappear. It’s scary.”

‎The Minister described the statistics as a major threat to Nigeria’s future human capital and urged immediate, evidence-based solutions to tackle the crisis.

‎Alausa explained that the Ministry is now using technology to better understand and address the problem. Every schoolchild’s biometric data is being uploaded onto NEMIS, a digital platform designed to support data-driven policy decisions.

‎He further announced that starting from 2026, the annual school census will be fully digital, eliminating the use of manual paper records.

‎“It’s no longer going to be manual. Everything will be tracked digitally,” he said.

‎“We’re also working to integrate data from WAEC and JAMB into the same system to improve transparency and monitoring.”

‎The Minister also expressed appreciation to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for its technical support, and thanked President Bola Tinubu for providing the political and financial backing needed to make the project possible.

‎He emphasized that reducing the dropout rate, especially among children from low-income families, will remain a top priority as the government moves towards building a more inclusive and accountable education system.