FG to set up education document bank, targets $9.5bn market by 2027
The Federal Government says it will set up the National Education Document Bank which would be the first in the history of Africa as a commercial enterprise.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, said this on Tuesday at the the end of the Stakeholders Engagement and Sensitization Programme on the Establishment of the National Education Repository and Databank system and the National Policy for its Implementation.
The event was held at the Conference Hall, Federal Ministry of Education Headquarters, Abuja.
Mamman who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Andrew David Adejo, said the scheme would be the private sector partnership scheme, thus, be a principal contributor to the nation’s digital economy initiative.
He noted that the global electronic document management system market size is forecast to reach USD 9.5 billion by 2027.
“The Federal Government, through the Ministry is collaborating with the private sector to set up the first ever private-sector-led automated National Education Document Bank in the history of Africa as a commercial enterprise and a bold statement as a principal contributor to the nation’s digital economy initiative,” he said.
He noted that the global electronic document management system market size is forecast to reach USD 9.5 billion by 2027.
He said the initiative is part of the NERD project which is a holistic effort of the Federal Government to mainstream the culture of perpetual document and record preservation in electronic formats as a definitive craft with positive implications for national security and prestige.
According to him, the objective of NERD is to support the private sector to secure global advantage for Nigeria as producers of economic means along the repository/document validation/archiving system value chain to the advantage of our local economy.
He described the unveiling of the NERD project to the stakeholders as a pivotal moment in the history of post-secondary and tertiary education in Nigeria and a ground-breaking initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He stated that Nigeria must keep pace with the digital transformations shaping education globally.
He also stated that the precipice of a new era in the nation’s education sector is one driven by innovation, accessibility, and inclusivity and the potential of this digital age would be harnessed to create a brighter and more promising future for our students and the country.
The Minister revealed that apart from the approval of the Federal Executive Council for the establishment of the National Databank for the Education Sector, FEC has also approved the national policy for the operation of the NERD system and that the Federal Ministry of Education, had since 2014 worked with key stakeholders such as the National Universities Commission (NUC), and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and subject matter experts from the private sector to craft the best and most holistic national policy to guide the operation of the National Education Repository and Databank focusing on education content preservation, exchange, and commercialization.
Presenting an overview of the NERD project, the Managing Director of Education Virtual Infrastructure Service, Tunji Ariyomo, informed that based on data from NUC, NBTE, and NCCE, there were 219 universities, 159 polytechnics and 200 Colleges of Education in Nigeria and that the NBTE, in addition, has accredited 40 specialized institutions, 33 Colleges of Agriculture, and 76 Colleges of Health Sciences and Technology (62 public and 14 private) while the NCCE has accredited 10 other NCE awarding institutions and 9 NCE awarding polytechnics.
