Rebuilding the foundations of basic education
Nigeria’s basic education system is undergoing a critical reset, shifting from years of neglect and fragmented reforms toward a more coordinated, results-driven approach. With renewed focus on quality, access and
Nigeria’s basic education system is undergoing a critical reset, shifting from years of neglect and fragmented reforms toward a more coordinated, results-driven approach. With renewed focus on quality, access and accountability, early signs suggest a system gradually moving from stagnation to structured progress—where policy, funding and implementation are beginning to align, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Over N100billion in matching grants accessed
- 4,633 new classrooms
- 6,114 renovated classrooms
- 257 new schools; 3,458 WASH facilities
- 900,000 learners benefited
- 506,000 teachers trained
- 7.8million textbooks distributed
- 11,280 school perimeter fences
- 333,862 units of school furniture
In many public primary schools across underserved communities, the school day begins long before the first lesson. Pupils file into overcrowded classrooms—some squeezed three to a bench, others sitting on the bare floor. The teacher, armed with little more than a chalkboard and determination, works through a curriculum that often feels disconnected from the realities of her students. It is a familiar scene—one that has come to define the state of basic education across much of the country.
For decades, Nigeria’s basic education system has borne the weight of neglect, policy inconsistency and chronic underinvestment. Interventions have come and gone—often ambitious in design but limited in impact. The result is a system where access has expanded unevenly, while quality has lagged behind, leaving millions of children without the foundational skills required to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
That narrative, however, is beginning to shift. Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, basic education is being repositioned—not as a peripheral social service, but as a central pillar of economic growth and national development. The emerging approach reflects a clearer recognition that the strength of any nation’s future is anchored in the quality of its classrooms.
At the core of this effort is a system-wide reform agenda driven by the Federal Ministry of Education and anchored on the National Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI). Rather than layering new programmes onto an already fragmented system, NESRI seeks to reset the architecture of basic education—aligning federal policy, state-level implementation and development partner support around clear, measurable outcomes.
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has become a central driver of this shift, evolving from a funding conduit into a coordinator of reform. Its expanding role reflects a broader move toward accountability—ensuring that resources translate into tangible improvements in teaching, learning and school infrastructure. This marks a departure from a past defined by fragmented initiatives, weak oversight and inefficient use of funds. Increasingly, the focus is on integration—bringing curriculum reform, teacher development, infrastructure investment and learning assessment into a coherent framework.
Read Also: Xenophobia attacks: 130 Nigerians apply for evacuation
Financing remains a critical pillar. For years, gaps in fund utilisation—particularly at the state level—undermined progress, with matching grants either unaccessed or poorly deployed. The current reform effort is addressing this by linking funding more closely to performance, strengthening oversight and encouraging greater state ownership. At the same time, the growing emphasis on data is reshaping decision-making. In a system long constrained by limited information, real-time monitoring is becoming central. Success is no longer defined by enrolment alone, but by measurable improvements in learning—how well children can read, write and apply basic numeracy skills.
Teachers, long acknowledged as the backbone of the system, are also receiving renewed attention. Beyond recruitment, the focus is shifting toward continuous professional development, improved working conditions, and incentives that reward performance. The goal is to elevate the teaching profession and ensure that those at the frontlines of education are equipped to deliver quality learning. Across the country, early signs of progress are beginning to surface. New classrooms are replacing dilapidated structures. Teaching materials are becoming more accessible. In some areas, digital tools are being introduced to enhance instruction and broaden access to knowledge. While these gains remain uneven, they reflect a system gradually moving in a new direction.
From diagnosis to action: UBEC’s 2025–2031 Strategic Blueprint
If the early phase of reform established direction, the next phase is defined by something more difficult: execution anchored in evidence, discipline, and institutional resolve. At the centre of this transition is UBEC, where a shift from diagnosis to action is increasingly visible. One of the clearest signals of intent has been the willingness of its leadership, under Executive Secretary Aisha Garba, to confront longstanding system weaknesses without equivocation. A comprehensive diagnostic undertaken at the start of her tenure—aligned with the reform momentum of President Tinubu’s administration—did not merely confirm what stakeholders already suspected; it quantified the depth of the challenge. Millions of out-of-school children, fragile learning environments, uneven teacher quality, and, perhaps most revealing, significant volumes of unutilised funding that had yet to translate into improved outcomes. The findings exposed a system where resources existed, but results lagged.
The response has been structured rather than rhetorical. UBEC’s 2025–2031 Strategic Blueprint, aligned with NESRI, sets out four interconnected priorities: improving learning quality, expanding access, strengthening financing, and enhancing institutional capacity. Taken together, they represent a deliberate shift—from acknowledging constraints to building an execution-focused pathway for reform.
Nowhere is this shift more consequential than in the classroom. Reform, in its truest sense, is measured not by policy documents but by what happens between a teacher and a learner. Here, early indicators suggest that change is beginning to take root. The curriculum has been recalibrated to reflect the demands of a modern economy, integrating digital literacy, critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and civic competencies. The intent is to move beyond rote learning toward skills that enable adaptability and problem-solving.
Teacher capacity—long a weak link in the system—is being addressed at scale. Backed by a N22 billion investment, Nigeria is undertaking what is arguably its most ambitious teacher professional development programme to date, targeting nearly one million educators. By 2025, over 506,000 teachers had already undergone training, with a focus on inclusive pedagogy, structured lesson delivery, psychosocial support, and digital competence. The scale is significant, but more important is the shift in emphasis: from one-off workshops to continuous, competency-based development.
Instructional delivery is also being standardised through the Structured Pedagogy Package, designed to provide teachers with clear lesson guides, pacing frameworks, and assessment tools. Complementing this is the expansion of the Smart Schools Programme—from six pilot institutions to 21—introducing digitally enabled, energy-efficient learning environments. These schools are not endpoints but laboratories, intended to generate insights for national scale-up. Learning materials, often taken for granted but critical to classroom effectiveness, are being deployed at unprecedented levels. More than 7.8 million textbooks and 400,000 library resources have been distributed nationwide, alongside digital tools such as tablets, laptops, and smartboards. For many classrooms, this marks a transition from scarcity to sufficiency.
Yet, beyond inputs, the reform is increasingly focused on outcomes. To that end, UBEC is advancing a Unified National Learning Assessment Framework, aimed at establishing consistent benchmarks for measuring student performance. Over 2,600 Quality Assurance Officers are being trained and equipped with digital supervision tools, signalling a move toward real-time monitoring and accountability. The message is clear: access alone is no longer enough—learning must be measurable. While improvements in quality are essential, access remains the system’s most visible challenge. Here too, the approach is evolving from incremental interventions to coordinated, large-scale action.
Infrastructure development, once uneven and poorly standardised, is now guided by revised Minimum Standards that embed safety, inclusion, and climate resilience into school construction. In 2025 alone, UBEC, working with State Universal Basic Education Boards, delivered 4,633 new classrooms and renovated 6,114 others. An additional 257 schools were constructed, supported by 3,458 water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities, 11,280 perimeter fences, and over 333,000 units of school furniture. These are not merely statistics; they represent environments where learning becomes possible. Collectively, the investments have improved conditions for more than 900,000 learners—reducing overcrowding, enhancing safety, and creating spaces more conducive to teaching.
Early childhood education, often overlooked despite its foundational importance, is also receiving attention. The construction of 2,364 Early Childhood Care Development and Education (ECCDE) centres signals a recognition that learning begins long before primary school—and that early interventions yield long-term gains. Perhaps most significant is the progress on out-of-school children, a challenge that has long defined Nigeria’s education crisis. Through targeted community engagement and enrolment drives, approximately 700,000 children have been reintegrated into formal education. While this represents only a fraction of the total number, it demonstrates that coordinated action can yield results.
Retention, often overshadowed by enrolment figures, is being strengthened through direct community involvement. Grants totalling N2.035 billion have been channelled to School-Based Management Committees, giving local stakeholders a more active role in school governance. The approach reflects a growing recognition that lasting reform must be rooted in communities rather than imposed from above.
Beyond the classroom, a deeper transformation is unfolding in how basic education is financed and managed. For years, the sector was not only underfunded but inefficiently funded, with large volumes of matching grants left unaccessed due to rigid policies, weak planning frameworks and poor coordination between federal and state actors. The result was a persistent gap between need and utilisation.
That gap is now beginning to close. A redesigned, digitised Basic Education Action Plan has shifted planning from static documentation to a more data-driven, results-based process. Adopted by 27 states and the Federal Capital Territory, the framework compels alignment between funding requests and measurable outcomes.
Reforms to the matching grant structure have also introduced greater flexibility. While 75 per cent remains dedicated to infrastructure and learning materials, the balance now supports teacher development, ICT integration and quality assurance. States are better positioned to allocate resources based on specific needs within a more accountable system.
The impact is becoming evident. Of the N121 billion unaccessed as of December 2024, over N100 billion has now been drawn down across 30 states and the FCT, alongside an additional N67 billion from the 2025 allocation. Although about N94 billion remains outstanding, a portion is already in process, signalling improving momentum. More importantly, accessed funds are increasingly translating into tangible investments—classrooms, materials and teacher capacity.
Institutional reforms are reinforcing this shift. Strengthened data systems, including the rollout of the Basic Education Management Information System, are improving evidence-based decision-making, while closer coordination with state education boards is helping to address longstanding implementation gaps.
Taken together, these efforts point to a system gradually aligning policy, funding and delivery. The gains remain uneven, and the scale of the challenge demands sustained commitment. Yet there are early signs of a transition from stagnation to structured progress—one that, if maintained, could redefine the future of basic education in Nigeria.
