Borno records highest-ever school enrolment, hits 1.8m learners
By Ahmed Kaigama
Borno has recorded its highest-ever school enrolment, with 1,801,295 learners captured in the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 Annual School Census (ASC) Report.
The Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Engr. Lawan Abba Wakilbe, disclosed this on Friday while presenting the report at the Ministry of Education Work Hub, Musa Usman Secretariat, Maiduguri.
Wakilbe said the figure represented an increase of more than one million learners from the 766,551 recorded in 2017/2018.
He attributed the growth to sustained investment in education, reconstruction and expansion of schools, as well as renewed confidence among parents and communities in the state’s education system.
“When you look at where we started, 766,551 learners in 2017/2018, and see where we are today, this is not just a number; it is evidence that parents and communities once again trust our schools,” he said.
The commissioner credited Gov. Babagana Umara Zulum and the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, for their commitment to strengthening education and education data management.
He said the teaching workforce also increased from 15,563 in 2024/2025 to 17,565 in 2025/2026, while senior secondary teachers rose from 2,314 to 2,998.
Wakilbe said functional public secondary schools increased from 34 in 2021 to 129 in 2026, with 100 per cent reporting coverage recorded during the census.
He added that DNEMIS had verified 127,652 Sangaya learners, while an ongoing verification exercise identified 498,295 learners across 5,335 centres.
According to him, 1,751 facilitators currently support Sangaya learning centres across the state.
NAN
