By Janet Sam
The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has reduced the cost of textbook assessment and ranking in a move aimed at encouraging wider participation by publishers and authors before the Federal Government begins the nationwide implementation of its National Textbook Ranking System.
The decision was announced in a statement signed by the Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof. Salisu Shehu, and made available to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.
Under the revised pricing, the fee for textbook assessment has been reduced from ₦2,000 to ₦1,500 per page, while the cost of ranking a textbook has been lowered from ₦1 million to ₦750,000 per title.
The council said the new rates take immediate effect, directing publishers and authors seeking assessment of their books to comply with the revised charges.
In addition, NERDC disclosed that publishers who had already paid the former assessment fee would be refunded the excess amount, adding that details of the refund process would be communicated in due course.
The fee reduction comes as preparations intensify for the launch of the Federal Government’s National Textbook Ranking System, a key education reform expected to take effect in September 2026.
The initiative, introduced by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, is designed to improve the quality of instructional materials used in Nigerian schools by ensuring that only textbooks that meet prescribed academic and curriculum standards are recommended for classroom use.
Under the new policy, only textbooks that have been assessed, approved and ranked by NERDC will be eligible for use in schools, while books that fail to pass the ranking process will no longer be permitted in classrooms.
The minister had explained that the reform is intended to address the proliferation of learning materials of varying quality and provide teachers and learners with access to credible, curriculum-compliant textbooks.
Although NERDC will continue to perform its statutory responsibility of approving textbooks, the council noted that approval alone will no longer qualify a book for classroom use.
Instead, approved textbooks will undergo an additional national evaluation by expert panels, which will rank them according to quality, relevance and compliance with curriculum standards before they are recommended for use in schools.
NERDC urged publishers, authors and other stakeholders in the book industry to take advantage of the revised fees and participate in the assessment process as the country prepares for the implementation of the new textbook quality assurance framework.
