Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has highlighted what he described as major reforms and measurable successes recorded in the education sector under President Bola Tinubu, saying the initiatives would have a lasting impact on future generations.
According to a statement signed by Ikharo Attah, Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister of Education, Alausa spoke today Monday during a special roundtable session at the Education World Forum in London, where he engaged education ministers and global stakeholders on Nigeria’s foundational learning reforms.
The minister said Nigeria had successfully harmonised foundational literacy delivery under a single national standard covering both formal and non-formal education systems.
“We’re 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.
According to him, the Accelerated Basic Education Programme (ABEP), developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, delivers foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes for out-of-school children and adolescents 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.
Alausa highlighted state-led reforms already producing measurable results, citing programmes such as EKOEXCEL, KwaraLEARN and BayelsaPRIME as examples of successful, technology-driven teaching models.
“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 stated.
On policy reforms, the minister said foundational literacy and numeracy now occupy a central place in the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration and the National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Programme.
He disclosed that the Federal Government was finalising a National Policy on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy aimed at creating a sustainable legal and institutional framework for reforms across federal, state and non-formal education systems.
“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 also revealed plans to increase the share of the Universal Basic Education Commission from two per cent to four per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, effectively doubling federal funding for basic education.
Addressing Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis, Alausa explained that ABEP provides a recognised pathway for children outside the formal school system to transition into junior secondary education.
“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 said.
On accountability and governance, the minister said the newly deployed National Education Data Initiative had revealed significant gaps in donor funding effectiveness.
Alausa maintained that Nigeria was shifting its focus from educational inputs to measurable learning outcomes, expressing confidence that the ongoing reforms would significantly reduce learning poverty across the country.
“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.
