August 19, 2025 – The National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC) has begun a two-day training for enumerators on automated data collection tools aimed at reducing the high number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
Speaking at the training in Abuja on Tuesday, the Acting Executive Secretary of NMEC, Dr John Onimisi, explained that the programme is designed to return more than 500,000 learners to classrooms in the first phase.
He said enumerators will capture data on youths aged 15 years and above who dropped out of school or never had the chance to continue their education.
“Our target is to ensure that these learners are enrolled in non-formal learning centres and are able to complete the programme successfully. Some may also transit to vocational programmes after completion,” Onimisi said.
He stressed that the initiative focuses not only on literacy but also on vocational training, to help young people gain employable skills and reduce unemployment.
The programme will cover all 774 local government areas in the country.
So far, 376 enumerators from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory have been on-boarded, while 250 facilitators will support the exercise in Abuja.
Onimisi further explained that monitoring would be conducted in real-time through a dashboard connected to the National Identity Management System. This will allow proper tracking and follow-up of learners across Nigeria.
“This is the first time since the 2010 National Literacy Survey that NMEC will be conducting such a large-scale data exercise, and the delay has largely been due to funding constraints,” he said.
He noted that the literacy programme would run in phases, with the first cycle lasting between six to nine months, depending on the number of contact hours. He commended the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, and the Universal Basic Education Commission for supporting the intervention. According to him, this is a renewed government commitment to addressing Nigeria’s literacy gaps.
The Director of Programmes at NMEC, Mr Samuel Aziba, also highlighted the importance of the training, saying that it would help enumerators make use of digital devices for accurate data collection. He added that pilot testing would start in four locations within the FCT before the nationwide rollout.
NMEC has revealed that Nigeria has more than 30 million non-literate adults as of 2021, making the programme a critical step in tackling education challenges and expanding access to both literacy and vocational training opportunities.