Reported By Ariajegbe Esezobor Sylvia
The Anambra State Government has issued a firm directive to all public, mission and private primary and secondary schools across the state, ordering them to complete and submit their 2025/2026 Annual School Census data on or before September 24, 2026, or face severe sanctions.
The directive, contained in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Dr Ifeoma Agbaizu, on behalf of the Commissioner for Education, Dr Ekpene Ogugua, was issued to newsmen in Awka on Tuesday. Agbaizu explained that the directive followed a requirement by the Federal Ministry of Education for schools to upload their Annual School Census data through the DNEMIS/DHIS2 platform, a digital system built on the globally recognised District Health Information Software 2 platform designed to modernise education administration and strengthen evidence-based decision-making nationwide. School-level training on the use of the platform had already been conducted for public and private schools across Anambra State to facilitate the data submission process, the Permanent Secretary noted.
The scope of the directive is deliberately broad. According to the statement, all public, mission and private primary and secondary schools, including approved and unapproved private schools, are required to complete and submit their census data within the stipulated timeframe. Agbaizu urged heads of schools, as well as proprietors and proprietresses, to provide accurate and complete information, carefully verify all entries and ensure successful submission of their data. She further directed school authorities to ensure that no school under their supervision was left out of the exercise. Participation in the Annual School Census, she stressed, was mandatory and should be treated as a matter of priority by all affected schools.
The warning that followed was unambiguous. Failure to comply with the directive within the stipulated deadline will attract severe sanctions and penalties, Agbaizu said, urging all affected schools to commence immediate action towards ensuring full and timely compliance. The firm language reflects a growing frustration within the state government over data gaps that have hampered education planning and resource allocation. Anambra State has previously moved to shut down non-compliant schools in the annual census, with the Commissioner for Education warning in September 2025 that after the census exercise, the list of defaulting schools would be published. That threat of public shaming and potential closure has now been renewed with the September 24 deadline.
The urgency of the directive is underscored by the state of Nigeria’s education data infrastructure. The Federal Government has been moving to replace the country’s largely manual Annual School Census with a national digital education management platform, and DNEMIS, built on the DHIS2 platform, is central to that transition. The system is designed to provide government with accurate and timely education data for evidence-based decision-making, a critical need in a country where millions of children remain out of school and where planning has historically been undermined by incomplete or unreliable statistics. For Anambra, which has positioned itself as a leader in education reform under Governor Chukwuma Soludo, the census is not a bureaucratic formality. It is the foundation upon which the state’s free education policy, infrastructure investments and teacher deployment strategies are built.
Anambra’s education record provides context for why the Soludo administration is treating the census with such seriousness. The state has abolished tuition and levies for pupils from nursery through Junior Secondary School, a policy that has driven a surge in enrollment. Public secondary school enrollment has increased by 47 per cent, while primary schools have seen a 27 per cent uptick, positioning Anambra with the lowest out-of-school children rate in Nigeria. UNESCO has rated the state’s out-of-school syndrome at 2.90 per cent, while the 2024/25 National Education Management Information System Annual Census held in conjunction with the State Education Management Information System rated it at just 0.25 per cent. The governor has described denying any child access to education as a criminal act and has warned parents keeping children out of school that they risk arrest. A law to regulate primary and secondary schools is also in the works, aimed at curbing exploitative levies and arbitrary practices.
Yet the expansion of access has created new challenges that only accurate data can address. With more children in classrooms, the state needs to know precisely how many pupils are enrolled, where they are, what infrastructure exists and where gaps remain. The Annual School Census is the mechanism for answering those questions. Without it, the state risks misallocating resources, failing to identify schools in need of urgent intervention, and undermining the credibility of its education reforms. The DNEMIS/DHIS2 platform offers a more efficient and transparent way to collect and manage that data, but only if schools actually use it and submit complete, verified information.
The September 24 deadline gives schools roughly ten days from the date of the directive to complete the exercise. For school heads and proprietors who have already undergone training on the platform, the task is clear. For those who have not taken the process seriously, the consequences could be severe. The government has not specified what form the sanctions will take, but the precedent from 2025 suggests that defaulting schools could face publication of their names, closure or other penalties. The Permanent Secretary’s directive leaves no room for ambiguity: every school, approved or unapproved, public or private, mission or secular, must participate.
The timing of the directive is also significant. It comes as the state prepares for a new academic session and as the Soludo administration intensifies its push to consolidate its education reforms. A credible census will provide the data needed to measure the impact of free education, identify schools that require urgent support and hold failing institutions accountable. It will also strengthen Anambra’s case for federal and donor support, demonstrating that the state has the systems in place to manage education resources effectively. For a governor who has staked significant political capital on education, the census is both a practical necessity and a test of his administration’s capacity to deliver on its promises.
For now, the message from the Ministry of Education is simple and direct. Every school in Anambra must complete its 2025/2026 Annual School Census data on the DNEMIS/DHIS2 platform by September 24. The data must be accurate, complete and verified. No school is exempt. And failure to comply will not be tolerated. Whether the deadline is met will determine not only whether Anambra’s education data is reliable, but whether the state’s reform agenda can be sustained on a foundation of evidence rather than assumption.
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