Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa has disclosed that about 80 per cent of donor funding for education over the last decade was channelled to the North-West and North-East regions, yet both zones still record the lowest literacy and numeracy rates in the country.
Alausa spoke during a special roundtable session at the Education World Forum in London, United Kingdom, where he showcased Nigeria’s ongoing education reforms before global education ministers and development partners.
According to the minister, findings from the National Education Data Initiative (NEDI) had exposed major gaps in the effectiveness of donor-supported interventions in the education sector.
He said: “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.”
The minister explained that the Federal Government had now shifted its focus from educational inputs to measurable learning outcomes under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to him, Nigeria had successfully unified 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.”
Alausa in a statement signed by his Special Adviser Media & Communications, Ikharo Attah, disclosed that the Accelerated Basic Education Programme developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), was also helping out-of-school children and adolescents attain foundational literacy and numeracy 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.”
Highlighting reforms already producing measurable outcomes, the minister cited EKOEXCEL, KwaraLEARN and BayelsaPRIME as successful examples of 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.
On policy reforms, Alausa revealed 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.
He 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 funding for basic education.
“Through our Partnership Compact with GPE, 70 per cent of funding is tied to measurable outcomes in learning, teacher management and data utilisation.”
Speaking on efforts to address the out-of-school children crisis, the minister explained that the Accelerated Basic Education Programme was designed to provide a pathway for children outside the formal system to transition into Junior Secondary School.
“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 added.
Alausa expressed confidence that the 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,” the minister said.
