By Akaha Sule
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Knowledge Management, Mrs. Nambativ Helen Zeramo, has called for full cooperation of education stakeholders in the drive to meet and exceed targets in finalizing the 2024/2025 Annual School Census (ASC) in line with the directive by the Federal Ministry of Education.
The Perm Sec made this call on Tuesday, 19th August, 2025 during a stakeholders meeting in Makurdi where Area Education Officers (AEOs), Parents Teachers Association (PTA), All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) among others converged to brainstorm on the recent directive.
She noted that the outcome of the exercise will shape the future of education in the state and expressed gratitude for stakeholders’ continued commitment to educational growth in the state while encouraging them to ensure the target of September 15th is met.
Mrs. Nambativ emphasized that “this process will build a robust, data-driven, and digitally connected education system in State.” According to her, “Schools must download and fill ASC forms for the 2022/2023, 2023/2024, and 2024/2025 sessions using statutory school records.”
On his part, Focal Person, Mr. Iormough Utuku who led the technical session in conjunction with the Director, Knowledge Management, Mr. Sunday Ocheje charged stakeholders to take the exercise seriously as only schools, staff and students that are onboarded on the new platform will be recognized.
Mr. Utuku particularly informed that “Federal Ministry of Education has introduced new guidelines requiring us to realign our implementation strategy to stay on track with national targets under the Nigeria Education Data Initiative (NEDI).
“The Minister for Education has adopted District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) given the success arising from the trials with 11 States, there is a dash board in the Minister’s office showcasing the data of those states. The remaining 25 states including Benue are to ensure they submit their data on this new platform without fail on 15th September.”
In their separate reactions, ANCOPSS state President, Dr. Robert Apir, NAPPS State Chairman, Mr. Sunday Ojoh, threw their weight behind the exercise, stressing that Census is key to the development of Education and as such they will ensure the exercise succeeds.
Johnson Olusegun Adeyemi, the software engineer for Edu portal/Trainer led the presentation of certificates to EMIS officers who underwent training on the Benue Eduportal to support this integration.
