The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmed, has outlined wide-ranging reforms being implemented across Nigeria’s education sector under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The reforms cover curriculum development, teacher training, tertiary education, student financing, technical and vocational skills, innovation and measures to bring out-of-school children into the formal education system.
According to Ahmed, the Federal Ministry of Education, under the leadership of the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, is focused on expanding access, improving quality and strengthening human capital development across the education value chain.
At the basic education level, she said the Federal Government was reviewing the national curriculum to reduce subject overload and move away from excessive reliance on rote learning.
The revised curriculum, she explained, is designed around competencies, with greater emphasis on what learners understand, can apply and can demonstrate.
The curriculum for pre-service teachers is also being reviewed to better equip teachers for the demands of contemporary classrooms.
Teacher professional development, Ahmed said, remains a major priority. She disclosed that although about ₦20 billion was allocated to states for teacher training in 2025, available data showed that only about 10 per cent of teachers benefited.
A baseline assessment also identified teachers who had spent between 25 and 30 years in service without participating in professional development programmes.
To address the gap, the Ministry has introduced a zero-rated digital teacher development platform accessible through Android devices to teachers in both public and private schools across rural and urban communities.
More than 60,000 teachers have participated in the first phase of the programme.
The Ministry is also working towards making continuous professional development more structured and, eventually, mandatory. The initiative is being supported by the Comprehensive Teacher Policy, which covers recruitment, training, welfare, deployment and career progression.
Ahmed said the policy was being developed in collaboration with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria and the Nigeria Union of Teachers.
Basic education funding and school performance
The Ministry is also strengthening the allocation and monitoring of basic education resources.
Ahmed said the Universal Basic Education Commission had revised its disbursement guidelines and funding formula to make interventions more responsive to actual needs, with stronger links between performance and additional support.
She added that procurement and value-for-money considerations, particularly in school construction, were receiving greater attention.
A new school grading framework will classify schools from A to D based on infrastructure, facilities, teacher qualifications and learner achievement. The grading system is expected to guide targeted interventions while recognising schools that sustain strong performance.
Tertiary education and student access
At the tertiary level, Ahmed outlined measures aimed at expanding access to medicine, pharmacy, science and engineering.
She disclosed that 10 medical institutions had been established or strengthened, while admission quotas in some institutions had been doubled or tripled to create additional capacity.
More than ₦400 billion, she said, had been invested in expanding capacity in critical fields, alongside stronger accreditation and verification processes.
However, she stressed that institutions must maintain adequate facilities, equipment and staffing beyond accreditation exercises.
The seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new universities and other tertiary institutions is intended to give existing institutions the opportunity to strengthen infrastructure, staffing and academic quality, she said.
Student financing is another major component of the access reforms.
Ahmed said the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, had supported more than 1.6 million students across about 322 universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
She explained that participation in the scheme is voluntary and requires annual application and verification. Once approved, beneficiaries can proceed with registration because NELFUND provides assurance for the payment of approved institutional fees.
While acknowledging that delays had occurred in some cases, she said efforts were underway to improve the processes and make the scheme more responsive.
Tackling out-of-school children
The Minister of State also highlighted government interventions targeting children outside the formal education system.
She noted that estimates of Nigeria’s out-of-school children range from about 10 million to more than 20 million, highlighting the need for reliable national data.
To address the challenge, the Ministry is developing a national education data platform alongside a nationwide mapping exercise.
The National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education and the National Commission for Nomadic Education have completed their respective mapping exercises, while the Agency for Mass Education is nearing completion.
Ahmed said the mapping exercise was not intended to be limited to data collection but would be directly linked to enrolment and intervention programmes.
Traditional and religious leaders are also being engaged to help reach communities where significant numbers of children remain outside the formal education system.
One of the practical responses is the establishment of bilingual schools that combine religious and conventional education.
The initiative is being prioritised in eight states with some of the highest numbers of out-of-school children. Three schools are planned in each state, with four planned in two of the states.
The schools are designed to have boarding capacities of between 1,500 and 2,000 learners.
Ahmed said the model was already operational in Maiduguri and Kano, while preparations were ongoing in the other participating states.
Almajiri education policy
She also outlined the Almajiri Policy, which defines the responsibilities of the Federal Government, state and local governments, parents and communities in providing education for children within the Almajiri system.
A key component of the policy is the integration of religious and conventional education through an Accelerated Basic Education Curriculum.
The curriculum condenses basic education into four levels while accommodating learners who enter the system at an older age.
The policy also establishes a minimum age for entry into Alharma schools and was developed through consultations with Islamic sects, Alharma teachers and other stakeholders.
According to Ahmed, the objective is to provide children with both religious and conventional education while progressively recognising and integrating Alharma teachers and clerics into the wider education framework.
Skills development and vocational training
Beyond conventional academic pathways, the Ministry is expanding Technical and Vocational Education and Training as part of its human capital development strategy.
Ahmed said a national skills-gap assessment identified about 40 trades, with 25 prioritised for immediate intervention.
The first application cycle attracted about 1.3 million applications, while more than 100,000 beneficiaries were trained through public and private training centres.
Participating centres received ₦30,000 per trainee, while beneficiaries received ₦22,500 for transportation.
The second cohort attracted about 1.8 million applications, with support increased to ₦50,000 per trainee for participating centres and ₦30,000 for beneficiaries.
Participants are expected to undergo assessment under the National Skills Qualification Framework and receive starter packs to facilitate their transition into employment or entrepreneurship.
Innovation and entrepreneurship
The Ministry is also promoting innovation and entrepreneurship among university students.
Ahmed highlighted the Student Venture Capital Grant, which provides up to ₦50 million for students with scalable innovation projects.
She also cited the Entrepreneurship, Business and Innovation Centre programme, which began at the University of Lagos and is being expanded to 16 additional universities.
The programme is designed to provide students with entrepreneurship training, mentoring and access to funding alongside their academic studies.
Data-driven monitoring
Ahmed said data and digitalisation were central to the implementation and monitoring of the reforms.
The Ministry is strengthening learner-level data, digitising processes and expanding electronic monitoring to improve planning, resource allocation and assessment of outcomes.
School grading, national assessments and e-monitoring will provide evidence on learning outcomes, teacher development, access and institutional performance.
This, she said, would enable government to assess interventions based on measurable results rather than simply the number of programmes introduced.
According to the Minister of State, the success of the reforms will ultimately be measured by improvements in learning outcomes, stronger teacher capacity, expanded access to education, increased skills opportunities and a reduction in the number of children excluded from the education system.
Drawing from her experience as a product of Nigeria’s public university system, Ahmed underscored the importance of maintaining public education as a pathway to opportunity and human capital development.
She reaffirmed her commitment to working with Alausa to sustain the reform momentum and ensure that policies and programmes translate into tangible outcomes for learners, teachers and institutions.
Ahmed said the Federal Government remained committed to strengthening the foundations of Nigeria’s education system and ensuring that the reforms contribute to the Renewed Hope Agenda through improved education, skills development, human capital growth and expanded opportunities for Nigerians.
