The Borno State government says enrollment in public primary and secondary schools has increased by 169,396 learners.

It said the figures represented a14.9 per cent growth between the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.

Lawan Wakilbe, Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, disclosed this while presenting the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 Annual School Census (ASC) reports on Friday in Maiduguri.

Mr Wakilbe said verified enrollment captured through the Digital National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS) increased from 1,133,604 in the 2024/2025 session to 1,303,000 in the 2025/2026 academic session.

He said overall education sector enrollment rose from 766,551 learners in 2017/2018 to 1,801,295 in 2025/2026, an increase of more than one million learners in nine years.

According to him, the growth reflects renewed confidence in education and sustained investments by Governor Babagana Zulum’s administration in rebuilding and expanding the sector.

The commissioner said the current DNEMIS figure included 127,652 verified Sangaya learners, while an ongoing verification exercise had identified 498,295 Sangaya learners across 5,335 centres.

He directed the Sangaya Board and the Ministry’s Education Management Information System (EMIS) unit to complete verification and ensure all verified learners were uploaded into the DNEMIS before the end of the year.

Mr Wakilbe said the state also recorded an increase in teachers, from 15,563 in 2024/2025 to 17,565 in 2025/2026.

“Meanwhile, 1,751 facilitators from the Sangaya Board and State Agency for Mass Literacy brought the combined teaching workforce to 19,316,” he said

He added that another 1,000 senior secondary school (SSS) teachers recruited in August were undergoing biometric documentation, bringing the total to 3,998 for the 2026/2027 session.

The commissioner said the number of functional public secondary schools increased from 34 in 2021 to 104 in 2025 and 129 in 2026.

He further added that usable public pre-primary and primary classrooms increased from 5,357 to 5,792, while wash facilities rose from 3,332 to 4,563.

Mr Wakilbe said the state achieved 100 per cent reporting coverage for the 2025/2026 ASC, up from 86 to 96 per cent in the previous year.

He said inclusive education also improved, with primary enrollment of children with special needs rising from 808 to 2,609, while secondary enrollment increased from 102 to 936.

According to him, the government will focus on expanding access and improving the transition from junior secondary school (JSS) to SSS.

He added that it would also focus on retention, technical and vocational education, and strengthening the Sangaya education system.

The commissioner commended Mr Zulum, the Federal Ministry of Education, enumerators, head teachers, Local Government Education Authorities (LDEAs) and the EMIS team for supporting the census exercise.

He said reliable education data remained critical to effective planning, budgeting and resource allocation in the state.

(NAN)