Borno’s School Enrollment Hits 1.8m Despite Insurgency – Report

Borno State has recorded its highest-ever school enrolment figure, with 1,801,295 learners captured in the newly presented 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 Annual School Census (ASC) Report.

Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Engr. Lawan Abba Wakilbe unveiled the report on Friday at the Ministry of Education Work Hub, Musa Usman Secretariat, Maiduguri and it indicates a jump of more than 1 million pupils over nine years.

He described the figures as proof that the state’s rebuilding of its education system is paying off.

“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 with their children’s future,” Engr. Wakilbe said.

The commissioner attributed the renewed public confidence in education and sustained state investment in rebuilding and expanding the sector to the improved enrolment which grow steadily from 766,551 in 2017/2018 to the current 1,801,295.

Engr. Lawan Wakilbe credited Governor Babagana Umara Zulum for his sustained commitment to education, and Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, for driving the national education data agenda, including the Digital National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS).

He also thanked enumerators, head teachers, Local Government Education Authorities and EMIS staff who conducted the census.

The commissioner for education said the teaching workforce across primary, junior secondary and senior secondary levels rose from 15,563 in 2024/2025 to 17,565 in 2025/2026.

At the senior secondary level alone, teacher numbers grew from 2,314 to 2,998 and are projected to reach 3,998 in 2027 following the recruitment of 1,000 additional senior secondary teachers in August 2026. Including facilitators supporting Sangaya and mass literacy programmes, the state’s combined teaching workforce now stands at an estimated 19,316.

“We cannot talk about access without talking about the people who stand in front of the classroom every day. That is why, alongside rising enrolment, we have deliberately grown our teaching workforce because more pupils must mean more qualified teachers, not more overcrowded classrooms,” the commissioner said.

The census, according to the Commission, shows that the number of functional public secondary schools rose from 34 in 2021 to 129 in 2026, and that the state achieved 100 per cent reporting coverage across pre-primary/primary, junior secondary, senior secondary, and science and technical schools in this census cycle.

He added that the establishment of the Arabic and Sangaya Education Board, the development of High Islamic Colleges, and the ongoing registration and verification of Sangaya centres, enumerators, facilitators, and Islamiyya schools reflect the state’s push to integrate Sangaya education into the wider system formally.

The Educational Management Information System (DNEMIS) currently records 127,652 verified Sangaya learners. However, an ongoing verification exercise by the Sangaya Board has so far identified 498,295 learners across 5,335 centres. The Sangaya Board and the State Agency for Mass Literacy together deploy 1,751 facilitators supporting these learning centres.

The event was attended by the executive chairman, SUBEB, Prof. Bulama Kagu; executive chairman, BSSEB, Prof. Yusufu Gana Balami; executive secretary, Arabic and Sangaya Education Board, Dr Abdulkadir Abdulkarim; permanent secretary of the ministry, Hajiya Yakaru Mustapha; permanent secretary, SUBEB, Dr Hyelni Mshelia. AGILE coordinator, Engr. Ibrahim Baba; representative of the commissioner for planning and economic development, Alhaji Adamu Idris Bako; Dr Yusuf Isma, who led the UNICEF and donor partners’ delegation; and Mohammed Abdullahi Director, Borno Civil Society Organisations’ delegation.

Also present were Suleiman Askira (Director-General, Statistics), Alhaji Abba Bukar (Chairman, SBMC), Abba Kurama (DPRS, representing the Executive Secretary, Education Trust Fund), along with Education secretaries and directors from across the sector.