The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has said that about 80 per cent of donor funding for education over the past decade was directed to the North-West and North-East, even though the two zones continue to record the lowest literacy and numeracy outcomes in the country.
He made the disclosure on Monday during a special roundtable session at the Education World Forum in London, United Kingdom, where he met with global education stakeholders and ministers to discuss Nigeria’s foundational learning reforms.
According to a statement signed by his media aide, Ikharo Attah, the minister said the Federal Government now relies on improved data systems to better guide resource allocation and education planning across the country, noting that previous funding patterns had not produced the desired learning outcomes.
“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,” Alausa said.
The minister explained that Nigeria has strengthened its Foundational Literacy and Numeracy framework by unifying delivery standards across both formal and non-formal education systems.
He said the government is scaling up interventions such as Reading and Numeracy Activity and Teaching at the Right Level across multiple states through the Universal Basic Education Commission.
“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 said.
Alausa also noted 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 three years.
“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.
He highlighted state-level initiatives such as EKOEXCEL, KwaraLEARN and BayelsaPRIME, describing them as evidence that data-driven and technology-enabled reforms are improving learning outcomes.
“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 are now central to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Programme.
Alausa said the government is finalising a National Policy on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy to provide 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.
Alausa further disclosed plans to increase the Universal Basic Education Commission’s share of the Consolidated Revenue Fund from two per cent to four per cent, effectively doubling Federal Government investment in basic education.
On addressing the out-of-school children crisis, he said the Accelerated Basic Education Programme offers 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 explained.
He also said the newly deployed National Education Data Initiative had exposed gaps in the effectiveness of donor-supported interventions and strengthened accountability in the sector.
Alausa expressed confidence that ongoing reforms would significantly reduce learning poverty, noting that Nigeria is shifting its focus from 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 NEDI, a centralised platform designed to transform data management across the country’s education system.
The data currently spans over 220,000 schools across 21 states.
The NEDI platform is being developed as a comprehensive repository to support the collection, storage and retrieval of data from basic to tertiary levels.
As part of its framework, the platform integrates datasets from key education agencies and bodies, 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 central feature of the initiative is the introduction of a National Learner Identity Number, which will assign a unique identifier to each student throughout their academic journey, ensuring continuity and accuracy in record-keeping.
This 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, centralised databank.
Read the full article here
