Nigeria showcases education reforms at world forum
By Uji A. Iliyasu, Abuja
Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has showcased achievements recorded in the country’s education sector under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, saying the reforms would impact generations to come.
The minister spoke during a special roundtable session at the Education World Forum (EWF) in London, United Kingdom, where he engaged education ministers and global stakeholders on Nigeria’s foundational learning reforms.
On the country’s Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) initiatives, Alausa said Nigeria had successfully unified foundational literacy delivery under a single national standard covering both formal and non-formal education systems.
“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.
He noted that the Accelerated Basic Education Programme (ABEP), developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, delivers the same 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.
The minister highlighted state-led reforms delivering measurable outcomes, citing EKOEXCEL, KwaraLEARN and BayelsaPRIME as successful, data-driven and technology-enabled teaching models.
“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.
On policy and funding, Alausa said foundational literacy and numeracy now sit at the centre of the Renewed Hope Agenda. He disclosed 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 all 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, adding that the government plans to increase UBEC’s share of the Consolidated Revenue Fund from two per cent to four per cent, effectively doubling federal funding for basic education.
On out-of-school children, the minister explained that ABEP provides a recognised pathway for children outside the formal system to transition into Junior Secondary School, with SUBEB officers now supervising both formal and non-formal systems across 15 states.
Alausa maintained that Nigeria had shifted focus from educational inputs to measurable learning outcomes, expressing confidence that 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,” he said.