The Abia State Government has introduced an Education Management and Information System (EMIS) and the Abia State Learning Identity Number (ABSLIN) to strengthen data management and track learners across schools.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Goodluck Ubochi, following the State Executive Council meeting in Umuahia.
The initiative is aimed at improving planning, monitoring student progress, and addressing unregulated movement of pupils between schools.
What the Commissioner said
According to Ubochi, EMIS serves as an integrated education platform that warehouses all education-related data, while ABSLIN assigns each learner a unique identification number to track academic progress from entry through completion of basic education.
He explained that the system would enable authorities to monitor students’ movement across public and private schools and ensure continuity in learning records.
- “What we intend to do in this very respect is what we call Abia State Learning Students Identity Number, where every child that is in the basic and secondary education will have an identification number.
- “When there is an identification number, the progress of the child will be monitored right from the inception until the person exits the basic education.
- “That’s what we intend to do and with this, we’ll be able to monitor the progress, the movement, because we noticed that our children move from one school to the other abruptly, anyhow, without any control,”he said
- “The Ministry will be in charge of the movement of our children from one school to the other, be it private or public. That’s what we intend to do with this.”
Kanu also disclosed that 36,415 applications were received in the second batch of the teacher recruitment exercise, with 24,023 candidates shortlisted for a computer-based test. The state had earlier employed 5,394 teachers and aims to recruit 4,000 more.
The Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education Programme for the 2025–2026 academic session has resumed across all local governments, alongside a sensitisation campaign targeting school dropouts, traders and artisans.
Officials further noted that Abia recently emerged overall best at the National Basic Education School Sports Games, winning eight gold medals, and has ranked top in NECO examinations for three consecutive years.
What you should know
The push toward centralized learner identity tracking and education data systems reflects a broader shift toward data-driven governance in Nigeria’s education sector.
- Kaduna State Ministry of Education, in partnership with UNICEF and other development partners, has digitised its school census and education management system to include a real‑time data dashboard that allows education officials to access and monitor school‑level data across local government areas, guiding infrastructure planning, teacher deployment and student tracking.
- Katsina State has launched its own digital education management system and centralised database with a Situation Room to support real‑time data collection and monitoring of teacher deployment, student enrollment and other education indicators, enabling more evidence‑based planning and resource allocation.
At the federal level, the Federal Ministry of Education has been promoting digital and data‑driven education reforms, including a national education repository and databank designed to support real‑time monitoring and teacher licensing integration, while multiple states have uploaded their school data into the Digital Nigerian Education Management Information System.
