Jane Salihu
The Federal Government is repositioning Nigeria’s education reform agenda around measurable learning outcomes, teacher quality and the ability of schools to demonstrate results, rather than merely counting the number of programmes and interventions delivered.
Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmed, disclosed this while outlining ongoing reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, saying the Ministry, led by Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, is strengthening the education system through curriculum reform, teacher development, data-driven planning, tertiary access, skills training and interventions for children outside the formal education system.
Prof. Ahmed said one of the major changes at the basic education level is the review of the national curriculum to reduce subject overload and move teaching away from excessive reliance on rote memorisation towards competency-based learning.
Under the new approach, emphasis is being placed on what learners understand, what they can apply and what they can demonstrate, while the curriculum for pre-service teachers is also being reviewed to better equip them for the demands of contemporary classrooms.
Teacher development is another area receiving attention, with Prof. Ahmed revealing that although about ₦20 billion was provided to states for teacher training in 2025, available data showed that only about 10 per cent of teachers benefited.
She said a baseline assessment also identified teachers who had spent between 25 and 30 years in service without participating in professional development, prompting the Ministry to introduce a zero-rated digital platform through which teachers in public and private schools can access training using Android devices.
According to her, more than 60,000 teachers have participated in the first phase, while the Ministry is working towards a more structured and eventually mandatory continuous professional development system under the Comprehensive Teacher Policy.
The policy, being developed with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria and the Nigeria Union of Teachers, will cover recruitment, training, welfare, deployment and career progression.
Prof. Ahmed also disclosed that the Universal Basic Education Commission has revised its funding and disbursement guidelines to make interventions more responsive to actual needs, while a new school grading framework will classify schools from A to D based on infrastructure, facilities, teacher qualifications and learner achievement.
She said the grading system is intended to guide targeted support, strengthen accountability and identify schools that sustain good performance.
At the tertiary level, the Minister of State said the government was expanding capacity in medicine, pharmacy, science and engineering, with 10 medical institutions established or strengthened and admission quotas in some institutions increased.
She put investment in expanding capacity in critical fields at more than ₦400 billion, alongside stronger accreditation and verification processes, while stressing that institutions must maintain adequate infrastructure, equipment and staffing beyond accreditation exercises.
Prof. Ahmed said the seven-year moratorium on establishing new universities and other tertiary institutions was designed to give existing institutions greater opportunity to improve infrastructure, staffing and academic quality.
On student financing, she said the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, had supported more than 1.6 million students from about 322 universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
She explained that participation in the scheme is voluntary and subject to annual application and verification, adding that processes were being improved to address delays experienced in some cases.
The Minister further highlighted the government’s efforts to address the challenge of children outside the formal education system, noting that estimates of the number of out-of-school children range from about 10 million to more than 20 million.
She said the Federal Ministry of Education was therefore developing a national education data platform and conducting nationwide mapping to establish more reliable figures and connect identified children directly to enrolment and interventions.
As part of the response, the government is establishing bilingual schools that combine religious and conventional education in eight states with some of the highest numbers of out-of-school children. The model, according to Prof. Ahmed, is already operational in Maiduguri and Kano, with preparations ongoing in other states.
She also explained that the Almajiri Policy provides for the integration of religious and conventional education through an Accelerated Basic Education Curriculum, while defining responsibilities for the Federal, state and local governments, parents and communities.
Beyond conventional academic education, the Ministry is expanding Technical and Vocational Education and Training to address identified skills gaps.
Prof. Ahmed said a national skills-gap assessment identified about 40 trades, with 25 prioritised for immediate attention. The first application cycle attracted about 1.3 million applications, with more than 100,000 beneficiaries trained, while the second cohort attracted about 1.8 million applications.
The Ministry is also supporting student entrepreneurship through the Student Venture Capital Grant, which provides up to ₦50 million for scalable student innovation projects, as well as the Entrepreneurship, Business and Innovation Centre programme being expanded from the University of Lagos to 16 additional universities.
Prof. Ahmed said data and digitalisation would remain central to the implementation of the reforms, with learner-level data, electronic monitoring, national assessments and school grading expected to provide evidence for measuring progress.
She said the ultimate test of the reforms would be reflected in improved learning outcomes, stronger teacher capacity, wider access to education, expanded skills opportunities and a reduction in the number of children excluded from the education system.
