President Bola Tinubu has approved system-wide policies to comprehensively overhaul the education sector for improved learning and skills development.

The policies will also lead to increases enrolment and ensure academic security of Nigerian children.

One of the policies will take a census of all schools in Nigeria – from basic to tertiary levels.

A statement yesterday in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said the approved policies are captured under DOTS: Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training and Development, as well as Skills Development and Acquisition.

On Data Repository, it said there is currently a paucity of coordinated, verifiable, and authentic data on the education sector critical for planning.

The President, therefore, approved the conduct of an extensive census of all schools – from primary to tertiary level – taking cognisance of their conditions and live-in facilities, proximity to one another, educational infrastructure, among others.

A census will also be conducted on teachers, their qualifications, the training support they get, among others, as well as pupils and students in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions on the bases of their gender, examination grades, among others.

The government explained that the information gathered would guide federal and state interventions for teachers’ training and development as well as overall support.

It would also provide data on gender ratio (boys and girls), their specific learning needs, and who is in school or who has dropped out based on daily monitoring with year-by-year reporting.

The statement said there would be a dedicated portal/dashboard in the Federal Ministry of Education, offices of governors, and local government chairpersons to host and disseminate this information for the Federal Government, states, and local governments to monitor in real time.

“It is expected that once fully implemented, these programmes will succeed in resetting learning and connecting the ‘DOTS’ for significant improvement of the overall education system in Nigeria, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu,” the statement added.

END.