The Federal Government on Friday urged the States to show more commitment to development of education data for effective planning and policy making for the sector.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwukah gave the charge in Abuja at the launch of Nigeria Digest of Education Statistics 2014-2016 and Nigeria Education Indicators 2016.
Anwukah stressed the need for states to conduct annual school census which would aid adequate record keeping.
He called for better funding of States Education Management Information System (SEMIS) and continuous staff development to keep them functional and effective.
The Minister underscored the importance of education data for effective planning and policy making.
“It is pertinent to state that globally the provision of reliable and quality statistical information by governments and organisations is the trend.
“This helps to identify, define and measure development issues and outcomes as well as enhance effective planning and policy implementation.
“It also helps in monitoring, measurement and evaluation of development intervention and reform initiatives,’’ he said.
The minister said that a number of measures had been taken by the Federal Government to tackle the dearth of timely and accurate data.
He said the Administration had resolved to adopt the practice of making evidence-based decisions and embark on result-oriented and sustainable development projects especially in the education sector.
“In our efforts to meet up with the 21st century global best data reporting practices, government has made funds available for Nigeria Education Management Information System (NEMIS).
“This has resulted in the regular conduct of the Annual School Census, a major source for data collection in the sector,’’ he said.
Speaking in the same vein, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Sonny Echono, said “education statistics are vital as they provide clear, objective and numerical evidence in all aspects of lives’’.
He said statistics aided decision making process by enabling the numerical benchmark, monitoring and evaluating the progress of policy or programmes.
“The quest for timely, accurate, credible and reliable data in the overall planning process cannot be overemphasised, moreso, in an important sector like education.
“Data plays a major role in shaping almost every aspect of human life, from astronomy, biology to business, housing to health, engineering and environment,’’ he said.
He commanded states like Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Anambra and Lagos for priotising and adopting a culture of planning in addressing the challenges of out of school children.
The Minister of FCT, Muhammad Bello said that proper planning required adequate data which in turn would yield effective service delivery.
The minister, who was represented by Mrs Theresa Bonu, pledged to support the ministry of education towards a functional data collation in the territory.
Dr Olatunde Adekola from the International Development Partners (IDPs) said that a good data management was crucial to attaining sustainable development.
According to him, the launch of the statistics showed that the government of Nigeria was committed to openness and accountability of its activities.
He pledged that his organisation would provide adequate resources to meet up with current data management of the country.
Also, the representative of the National Planning Commission, Mrs Hafsatu Isiyaku said the launch would ginger other data population agencies to work hard.
She said the commission would ensure the sustainability of the existing collaboration with the ministry to strengthen the data management of the ministry.