The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has revealed that about 80 per cent of donor funding allocated to education in Nigeria over the past decade was concentrated in the North-West and North-East regions, despite the two zones continuing to record the country’s lowest literacy and numeracy levels.
Alausa made this known on Monday during a special roundtable session at the Education World Forum held in London, United Kingdom, where he met with international education stakeholders and ministers to discuss Nigeria’s ongoing reforms in foundational learning.
According to the minister, the Federal Government is now relying on improved education data systems to guide resource allocation and planning more effectively, noting that previous intervention patterns did not produce the expected improvements in learning outcomes.
He explained that findings from the National Education Data Initiative, NEDI, revealed major gaps in the impact of donor-supported education interventions over the years.
“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.
The minister stated that Nigeria has strengthened its Foundational Literacy and Numeracy framework by harmonising standards across both formal and non-formal education systems.
He noted that the government is expanding interventions such as Reading and Numeracy Activity and Teaching at the Right Level across several states through the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC.
“We are scaling RANA for Primary 1 to 3 and Teaching at the Right Level for Primary 4 to 6 across 15 states through UBEC. This uses structured lesson plans, weekly teacher coaching and regular assessments,” he explained.
Alausa further disclosed that the Accelerated Basic Education Programme developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council is helping out-of-school children and adolescents achieve equivalent foundational learning outcomes within a three-year period.
“Both tracks now report into NEDI, so for the first time we can monitor formal and non-formal education coverage from one dashboard,” he added.
The minister highlighted several state-level initiatives, including EKOEXCEL, KwaraLEARN and BayelsaPRIME, describing them as examples of how technology-driven and data-based reforms are improving learning outcomes across the country.
“The impact is measurable. KwaraLEARN halved foundational learning deficiencies in less than two years, while BayelsaPRIME improved literacy by 20 percentage points in just 19 weeks. The model is working, and we are now scaling it nationally,” he said.
According to him, foundational literacy and numeracy reforms now form a major part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Programme.
Alausa also disclosed that the government is finalising a National Policy on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy aimed at creating a long-term legal and institutional framework for implementation across all levels of education.
“Through our Partnership Compact with GPE, 70 per cent of funding is tied to measurable outcomes in learning, teacher management and data utilisation,” he said.
The minister further revealed plans to increase the share of the Universal Basic Education Commission from the Consolidated Revenue Fund from two per cent to four per cent, effectively doubling the Federal Government’s investment in basic education.
Speaking on the challenge of out-of-school children, Alausa said the Accelerated Basic Education Programme provides a structured pathway for reintegration into the formal school system at the junior secondary level.
“ABEP centres and formal schools now use the same coaching tools and learning materials, with SUBEB officers supervising both systems across 15 states. There are no parallel systems, lower costs and consistent quality,” he stated.
He added that the newly introduced National Education Data Initiative had exposed weaknesses in the effectiveness of donor-funded interventions while also improving accountability and transparency within the education sector.
Alausa expressed confidence that the ongoing reforms would significantly reduce learning poverty in Nigeria, stressing that the government was shifting attention from mere funding inputs to measurable learning outcomes.
“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,” the minister added.
No fewer than 32 million students have so far been captured under the NEDI platform, a centralised system designed to transform education data management across Nigeria.
The database currently covers more than 220,000 schools across 21 states and is expected to serve as a comprehensive repository for data collection, storage and retrieval from basic to tertiary education levels.
The initiative integrates datasets from major education agencies and institutions, including the Universal Basic Education Commission, the National Education Management Information System Annual School Census, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
Examination bodies such as the West African Examinations Council, the National Examinations Council and the National Business and Technical Examinations Board are also expected to contribute to the system.
A major component of the initiative is the introduction of a National Learner Identity Number, which will assign a unique identification number to every student throughout their academic journey to ensure continuity and accuracy in educational records.
The development followed the Federal Government’s inauguration of a 25-member committee on January 27, 2025, to oversee the establishment of NEDI and develop a harmonised and centralised national education databank.
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