By LUCY OSUIZIGBO-OKECHUKWU

The Anambra Government has directed all public, mission and private primary and secondary schools in the state to complete and submit their 2025/2026 Annual School Census data on or before Sept. 24.

The directive is contained in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr Ifeoma Agbaizu, on behalf of the Commissioner, Dr Ekpene Ogugua, and issued to newsmen in Awka on Tuesday.

Ogugua explained that the directive followed a requirement by the Federal Ministry of Education for schools to upload their Annual School Census data through the DNEMIS/DHIS2 platform.

He stated that school-level training had already been conducted for public and private schools across the state to facilitate the submission of the data.

According to him, all public, mission and private primary and secondary schools, including approved and unapproved private schools, are required to participate in the exercise.

He urged heads of schools, proprietors and proprietresses to provide accurate and complete information, carefully verify all entries and ensure successful submission within the stipulated time frame.

The commissioner further directed school authorities to ensure that no school under their supervision was excluded from the exercise.

He emphasised that participation in the census was mandatory and should be treated as a priority by all the schools.

He warned that failure to comply with the directive within the stipulated deadline would attract severe sanctions.

He, therefore, urged all the schools to commence immediate action to ensure full and timely compliance with the directive. (NAN)