The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has urged state governments to meet the conditions required to access the World Bank-supported US$552 million HOPE Education Programme, saying stronger collaboration and reliable data are critical to improving education across the country. He said the Federal Government is replacing assumption-based decision-making with evidence-driven planning through the National Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI) and the Digitalised Nigeria Education Management Information System (DNEMIS). Alausa urged all states to complete their Annual School Census on the digitised platform, commending Kaduna and Borno states for the progress made so far. He urged commissioners to work with the Federal Ministry of Education and the World Bank to unlock the funds for improving access to education, learning outcomes and governance. Representing the World Bank Country Director, Mr. Matthew Verghis, the Senior Economist and Task Team Leader for the HOPE Education Programme, Mr. Shin Nomura, reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s education reform agenda through the HOPE Education Programme.