The Federal Government on Monday said it would carry out a census of all schools in the country.

The government said the data from the census would assist in tackling the challenges facing the sector.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, stated this in Abuja on Monday at a two-day capacity-building workshop for desk officers in the ministry, its departments, and agencies.

Mamman said the school data would help the ministry to advise the state governments to move to do the right thing.

He said: “It is our plan that by the end of this year or early next year, we will be signing a partnership contract with a firm that will be working with our IT people to generate data on all schools in Nigeria.

“This is because we need to know our teachers and every single student; we need data to know the trend of learning and our school infrastructure.

“This exercise will enhance decision-making and policy formulation as the data collected and collated will aid evidence-based planning, measure implementation and progress, and identify areas where improvement is required.”

The Minister also decried the rate of learning crisis in the country saying a report submitted to him showed that some pupils found it difficult to identify numbers while many could neither read nor solve simple mathematical questions.

He however noted that impacting soft basic skills on students was a part of the ministry’s plans towards achieving its deliverables.

The Minister said the training was aimed at enhancing the capacity to track, collate, harmonise and report progress in the implementation of the Ministerial Deliverables and the Education Sector Roadmap.

“It will further ensure that government policies and programmes are effectively tracked and implemented,” he added.

He charged heads of MDAs, desk officers, and other participants to tailor their programmes, activities, and projects towards the realisation of the deliverables.

The myinister urged the participants to turn in timely, credible and reliable report of the activities, programmes and projects of their departments and organisations.

Mamman said: “The uppermost focus of the Ministry in general is in the areas of ensuring the generation of credible, timely, and reliable education data at all levels and the promotion of skill development.

“It is also in the enhancement of skill development across the entire education landscape for innovative and employability education; teacher training and development; and reducing the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

“I believe if we get it right in education, everything else will fall into place.

“The doctors who man our hospitals, the nurses who deliver the vaccines, the engineers in charge of our construction work—everybody is the by-product of our activities.”

The Minister commended the government of Kaduna State and the security organisations for helping in the release of the 287 abducted schoolchildren in the state.

The Senior Education Officer, Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), Ian Attfield, pledged to support the government in actualising the deliverables and addressing the learning crisis through continuing education financing.

[TheNation]