The Federal Government has adopted Kaduna State‘s household mapping model as the national framework for identifying out-of-school children across the country.
The initiative is expected to replace the use of broad estimates with verified data, allowing the government to know the exact number of children who are out of school, where they live and the households they come from.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the decision on Thursday after a meeting with Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, Naijaonpoint reports.
The development was contained in a statement issued by the minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah.
Under the new approach, the Federal Ministry of Education, in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics, will conduct a nationwide household mapping exercise across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The government hopes the exercise will provide accurate information needed to design targeted education programmes and ensure that resources are directed to children and communities that need them most.
Alausa described the initiative as a major step towards addressing Nigeria’s long-standing out-of-school children crisis.
He said the new data-driven approach would help the government work directly with states to identify children who are not attending school and support efforts to return them to the classroom.
“With this exercise, we now know where these children are and the households they belong to. That gives us the opportunity to work closely with the Kaduna State Government to bring them back to school,” the minister said.
Alausa explained that education planning in the past had relied heavily on projections and estimates, which did not always provide an accurate picture of the number and location of out-of-school children.
According to him, the nationwide exercise will provide verified information that can guide government policies and help ensure that interventions reach the children who need them.
The minister cited Kaduna State as an example of the importance of accurate data in tackling the problem.
He said previous estimates had put the number of out-of-school children in Kaduna at about 585,000.
However, the household mapping exercise carried out by the state government revealed that the actual figure was fewer than 200,000.
Alausa commended Governor Sani for pioneering the model, saying it had provided a clearer understanding of the education challenge in the state.
He also noted that the exercise demonstrated how reliable data could improve education planning and the delivery of government services.
“The Federal Ministry of Education is already working with the National Bureau of Statistics to replicate the same methodology nationwide,” the minister said.
He expressed confidence that the exercise would enable the government to plan more effectively, deploy resources efficiently and monitor progress in reducing the number of children who are out of school.
The minister said the initiative was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and would help ensure that no child was left behind in accessing education.
He said the government would use the information gathered from the exercise to develop practical solutions and strengthen cooperation with state governments and development partners.
“The nationwide household mapping exercise will provide the accurate data needed to support practical solutions, strengthen collaboration with state governments and development partners, and ensure that more out-of-school children are identified, enrolled and retained in school,” Alausa stated.
In his remarks, Governor Sani commended Alausa and the Minister of State for Education for the reforms being implemented in the education sector.
The governor described their leadership as “encouraging and inspiring to state governments.”
Sani also praised President Tinubu for his continued support for education, saying the Federal Government’s commitment had created momentum for meaningful reforms across the country.
He reaffirmed Kaduna State’s willingness to work closely with the Federal Ministry of Education to expand access to quality education.
The governor described education as “one of the most important investments any government can make.”
He also expressed satisfaction that Kaduna’s household mapping exercise had been adopted as the national model for identifying out-of-school children.
Nigeria has one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world.
The challenge has been linked to several factors, including poverty, insecurity, socio-cultural barriers and inadequate education infrastructure.
The Federal Government has made expanding access to education one of the key priorities of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Among the reforms introduced are the Nigerian Education Data Initiative, school infrastructure upgrades, the student loan programme, curriculum reforms and other measures aimed at improving data-driven education planning.
Alausa has repeatedly stressed that reliable data is critical to reducing learning poverty and ensuring that government interventions reach the children and communities that need them most.
The nationwide household mapping exercise is expected to give the Federal Government and state governments a clearer picture of the out-of-school children crisis and provide a stronger basis for getting more children into school and keeping them there.
