Tinubu’s Digital Education Reforms Tackle Certificate Racketeering, Says Alausa

The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has said the digital reforms of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration are strengthening the integrity of academic qualifications and tackling certificate racketeering.

Alausa said the reforms were also protecting genuine students and graduates from losing opportunities because of gaps and inconsistencies in the management and verification of education records.

He spoke in Abuja when the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig. Gen. Olakunle Nafiu, led a delegation to the Ministry of Education.

According to the minister, the integration of education records and identification systems is making it easier to track learners and authenticate qualifications across the education system.

He said the development formed part of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which seeks to make the education sector more transparent, efficient and responsive.

Alausa commended the NYSC leadership for embracing technology and supporting efforts to improve the credibility of education records.

He said stronger cooperation between the ministry and NYSC would improve verification, reduce opportunities for fraud and facilitate the seamless exchange of credible learner and graduate data.

The minister said the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank, NERD, was already collecting and verifying university certificates while tracking learners across the education system.

He added that the initiative had provided help-desk support for tertiary institutions dealing with education records.

Alausa explained that the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure, NEDI, would further link records from different stages of a learner’s educational journey.

The ministry, he said, had also digitised its Education Support Services from end to end, including certificate verification and processes involving foreign applicants.

Discussions are also underway between the ministry and NYSC on an application programming interface that would enable both institutions to exchange relevant information faster and more efficiently.

Alausa said the reforms would help resolve administrative and data problems that have prevented some qualified graduates from fully participating in national service and the labour market.

He identified discrepancies in names, issues involving graduates of part-time National Diploma programmes and the admission of NCE holders into Higher National Diploma programmes among the challenges requiring attention.

To address them, the minister said the government would work with the National Board for Technical Education, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, National Identity Management Commission and other stakeholders.

He said the agencies would explore the introduction of a national Learner Identification Number and a uniform framework for recording and sequencing names across government education and identity databases.

The measure, Alausa explained, would ensure that accurate identity records follow learners from the beginning of their educational journey.

He also said the government had strengthened measures against examination malpractice, including the leakage of examination questions, and stressed the need to extend such efforts to tertiary institutions.

Nafiu, who spoke during the meeting, commended the ministry’s reforms and pledged NYSC’s continued support for the digital transformation of the education sector.

He said the Corps had pursued digitalisation since 2014 and developed systems that provide reliable information about Corps Members and their deployment.

Nafiu said NYSC had complied with the Federal Executive Council’s directive on collaboration with NERD and was ready to deepen its partnership with the ministry.

He cited the introduction of QR codes as one of the technologies that had strengthened the integrity of NYSC operations.

According to him, the technology had virtually eliminated document cloning within the Corps and strengthened its ability to verify credentials.

The NYSC director-general also highlighted efforts to resolve challenges affecting part-time National Diploma graduates, HND mobilisation and the admission of NCE holders into HND programmes.

He said discussions with the new JAMB Registrar had produced an understanding to create a window for graduates affected by name discrepancies to regularise their records in collaboration with NIMC.

Nafiu called for a wider meeting involving JAMB, NIMC, NYSC and the Ministry of Education to develop lasting solutions to the problems.

He said a consistent national framework, backed by a unique Learner Identification Number, would prevent similar difficulties in the future.

The NYSC chief assured the minister that the Corps would continue working with the ministry and other agencies to strengthen verification and ensure that qualified graduates are not unfairly excluded from national service.

Alausa reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to the partnership, saying the government would sustain the digital transformation agenda with renewed vigour.

He said the ultimate objective was to build an education system where every Nigerian child could access quality education and genuine graduates could advance on the strength of merit and hard work.

The minister added that the reforms reflected Tinubu’s commitment under the Renewed Hope Agenda to building a more transparent, efficient and productive Nigeria.