Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has disclosed that about 80 per cent of donor funding allocated to education over the past decade was directed to the North-West and North-East, despite the regions still recording the lowest literacy and numeracy outcomes in the country.

Alausa disclosed on Monday during a special roundtable session at the Education World Forum in London, 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 education data systems to guide resource allocation and planning more effectively across the country.

“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 the government had strengthened its Foundational Literacy and Numeracy framework by harmonising delivery standards across formal and non-formal education systems.

He said interventions such as Reading and Numeracy Activity and Teaching at the Right Level were currently being expanded 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 stated.
 

Alausa added that the Accelerated Basic Education Programme developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council was helping out-of-school children and adolescents achieve 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.

The minister also highlighted reforms such as EKOEXCEL, KwaraLEARN, and BayelsaPRIME, describing them as examples of how data-driven and technology-enabled programmes were 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 disclosed that the Federal Government was finalising a National Policy on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy to provide a long-term 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 stated.

He further revealed plans to increase UBEC’s share of the Consolidated Revenue Fund from two per cent to four per cent, effectively doubling federal investment in basic education.

On tackling the out-of-school children crisis, the minister said the Accelerated Basic Education Programme provides a pathway for reintegrating children into the formal school system at 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.

Alausa also said the newly deployed National Education Data Initiative had exposed gaps in donor-supported interventions and improved accountability within the education sector.

“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.

The Federal Government said over 32 million students have so far been captured under the National Education Data Initiative, a centralised platform designed to improve education data management nationwide.

The platform currently covers more than 220,000 schools across 21 states and integrates datasets from agencies 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 data to the system.

A key 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 to improve continuity and accuracy in record-keeping.

The 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 national education databank.