The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has showcased Nigeria’s ongoing education sector reforms at the Education World Forum in London, United Kingdom, highlighting progress made under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The minister spoke on Monday during a special roundtable session attended by education ministers and global stakeholders, where he presented Nigeria’s reforms in foundational learning and education governance.
This is contained in a statement issued by the minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah, on Monday in Abuja.
Alausa disclosed that about 80 per cent of donor funding for education in Nigeria over the last decade was channelled to the North-West and North-East regions.
He, however, noted that in spite of the huge investments, both regions still record the lowest literacy and numeracy outcomes nationwide.
According to him, recent findings from the Nigerian Education Data Initiative (NEDI) have provided credible evidence to guide more effective allocation of resources.
“NEDI data revealed a key issue: 80 per cent of donor funds in the last decade went to the North-West and North-East, yet those zones still have the lowest literacy and numeracy rates.
“We now have the data to redirect resources where they deliver results,” he said.
Alausa explained that Nigeria had unified foundational literacy delivery under a single national framework covering both formal and non-formal education systems.
He said the Federal Government was scaling the Rapid Assessment of Numeracy and Literacy programme for Primary one to three pupils, alongside the teaching at the Right Level initiative for Primary four to six learners across 15 states.
This, he said was done through the Nigeria’s Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) initiatives.
The minister added that the Accelerated Basic Education Programme (ABEP), developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), enabled out-of-school children and adolescents to achieve foundational literacy and numeracy within three years.
He said both formal and non-formal education data streams now report into NEDI, allowing government to monitor national education coverage from a single dashboard for the first time.
Highlighting sub-national reforms, Alausa cited programmes such as EKOEXCEL, KwaraLEARN and BayelsaPRIME as examples of successful technology-driven teaching models already delivering measurable outcomes.
“The impact is measurable. KwaraLEARN halved foundational learning deficiencies in less than two years, while BayelsaPRIME improved literacy by 20 per cent in just 19 weeks.
“The model is working, and we are now scaling it nationally,” he said.
On policy reforms, the minister said foundational literacy and numeracy had been placed at the centre of the Renewed Hope Agenda and Nigeria’s National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Programme.
He disclosed that the federal government was finalising a National Policy on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy to provide a sustainable legal and institutional framework for reforms across federal, state and non-formal education systems.
Alausa further revealed that Nigeria’s Partnership Compact with the Global Partnership for Education tied about 70 per cent of education funding to measurable outcomes in learning achievement, teacher management and data utilisation.
He added that plans were underway to increase the funding allocation of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) from two per cent to four per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to strengthen basic education delivery nationwide.
Speaking on efforts to address the out-of-school children challenge, the minister explained that ABEP provided a recognised pathway for learners outside the formal system to transition into Junior Secondary School.
According to him, ABEP centres and formal schools now use the same coaching tools and learning materials, with State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) officers supervising both systems across participating states.
Alausa emphasised that Nigeria had shifted its focus from educational inputs to measurable learning outcomes, expressing confidence that ongoing reforms would significantly reduce learning poverty nationwide.
“With the National Policy on FLN nearly finalised and one standard across formal and non-formal systems, we are building a foundation that will outlast any single programme cycle.
“That is how we will end learning poverty at scale,” he added.
