By Sanee Yarima, Jalingo
The Taraba State government has transitioned from manual data collection to a real-time electronic system for tracking school information, officials said on Tuesday, as part of efforts to improve planning and accountability in the education sector.
Chairperson of the Taraba State Universal Basic Education Board, Christiana Binga, announced the shift at the launch of a training workshop on the Basic Education Management Information System (BEMIS) for the 2024/2025 Annual School Census.
The digital platform is designed to enhance the collection, management and reporting of education data, replacing the traditional pen-and-paper method and reducing errors, Binga said.
The three-day “train the trainers” workshop, held in Jalingo, brought together 70 participants from the state’s 16 local government areas. It was organised by SUBEB in partnership with the State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
Binga said the census would capture data across three academic sessions – 2023–2024, 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 – and described the exercise as critical for evidence-based planning, resource allocation and policy development.
Enumerators will use Android phones and tablets to collect data directly from schools, a move she said would improve efficiency and strengthen the integrity of information gathered.
She urged participants to take the training seriously, noting that they would cascade the knowledge to others involved in the statewide data collection effort.
Binga also thanked state governor Agbu Kefas for approving the programme, and commended education commissioner Augustina Godwin for her role in advancing data management in the sector.
Opening the workshop, Godwin stressed the importance of reliable data in educational planning and said the state would soon transition from BEMIS to the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), a federal digital repository for school census data.
She added that participants would receive further training supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and UNICEF.
In a goodwill message, state coordinator of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Hamidu Raji, praised Taraba for promptly implementing federal education policies and programmes, noting that the state had recently accessed matching grants after paying its counterpart funding.
Officials said monitoring mechanisms would be put in place to ensure effective implementation of the data collection exercise across the state.