Resources

At state level, a systematic approach to educational planning, supported by Education Management Information System (EMIS), is now developing with a clearer role for the federal government in the support, coordination and monitoring of state-level EMIS. However, a lack of reliable baseline data constrains realistic targeting of indicators. Structures and responsibilities for EMIS are complex, reflecting historical developments and more recent imperatives but improved synergy between existing agencies is being sought through a new national body. Until recently, data collection issues have eroded stakeholder confidence but current developments are designed to improve data quality and utility although changes in school and cycle structure will pose significant data collection challenges. Data on population and finance are limited in quality and quantity. One of the important lessons from the experience of Nigeria is the important facilitation role that the Federal Ministry of Education is now playing to support the implementation of a common EMIS approach at the state level. This involves the development of a single software system in order to store and manage education data. States have also benefited from a comprehensive capacity building initiative to improve skills at the local level and to encourage data utilization. In addition the Federal Ministry has helped establish a centralized depository to support the collection and amalgamation of all previous census data.