The Kogi State Government has introduced a mandatory Learners Identification Number in all public and private schools, urging school owners and managers to comply with the new policy or face sanctions.
Commissioner for Education, Hon. Wemi Jones, gave the directive during a stakeholders’ sensitization programme on the Annual School Census in Lokoja.
Jones described the Learners’ Identification Number as a mandatory requirement for all students, warning that learners not captured on the Digitized National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS) could face challenges in participating in national examinations and gaining admission into higher institutions.
He urged school proprietors and principals to ensure that every learner is registered, noting that the LIN would serve as a lifelong educational identity, strengthen student tracking and enhance the integrity of public examinations.
He noted that the Ministry of Education has intensified preparations for the forthcoming Annual School Census as part of efforts by the government to ensure data-driven planning and policy implementation for educational development in the state.
The commissioner commended stakeholders for their support during the last census exercise, which enabled Kogi State to submit its data to the Federal Ministry of Education ahead of schedule.
Earlier, Director of the Education Planning, Research and Statistics Dr. Elizabeth Animoku, said the Annual School Census is conducted to generate data on enrolment, teaching personnel, infrastructure, instructional materials and other learning resources in schools across the state.
According to her, the exercise provides critical data for educational planning, equitable resource allocation, teacher recruitment and training, monitoring gender parity and implementing education reforms.
Dr. Animoku identified inadequate data and resistance from some stakeholders as key challenges affecting the exercise and appealed for greater cooperation from school administrators and education managers to ensure accurate and reliable data collection.
She further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Education introduced the Learners’ Identification Number through the DNEMIS platform to curb impersonation and improve learner management nationwide.
She added that training of Data Evaluation Officers would commence in Lokoja and other parts of the state ahead of the census exercise.
The meeting brought together education administrators, school proprietors, development partners and government officials to discuss data collection and educational planning in the state.
