Education Minister, Alausa Unveils 26 Education Reforms, Disburses N372.6bn in Student Loans

Sunday Ehigiator

The Federal Government has highlighted 26 education initiatives introduced under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, covering university reforms, student financing, teacher development, technical education, research, digital learning and infrastructure.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, outlined the initiatives in an A–Z document titled From Reform to Results, which he shared on his X account recently.

The document, which covers the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), highlighted programmes designed to expand access to education, strengthen institutions, promote research and innovation, and equip young Nigerians with practical skills.

Among the major interventions is the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which has processed 1,659,853 applications, with a total of ₦372.62 billion reportedly disbursed to beneficiaries across 319 institutions.

The fund comprises ₦192.89 billion paid as institutional fees and ₦179.73 billion disbursed as upkeep allowances.

The government also highlighted its agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, which provides for a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration, alongside revised allowances and improved welfare provisions.

Under the Campus Mobility Initiative, the government said it had deployed 780 electric tricycles across 48 universities to improve transportation within campuses.

The Diaspora BRIDGE programme, designed to connect Nigerian experts abroad with local institutions, has recorded 1,141 registered experts, with 16,675 students benefiting across 107 tertiary institutions.

On teacher development, the document disclosed that 53,553 teachers had registered on EduRevamp, while 51,794 registrations were recorded for the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway.

It added that the government had invested ₦2 billion in the programme, which targets 250,000 teachers by 2027.

The administration also listed its Free Technical Education initiative, which provides tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms to students in federal and selected state technical colleges.

According to the document, 38 federal and state technical colleges have been rehabilitated to improve facilities for practical skills training.

On girl-child education, the government reported that 7.19 million girls were benefiting from direct interventions across 21 states under the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, while 3.7 million girls were enrolled in junior and senior secondary schools.

It added that more than 422,720 girls had completed life-skills programmes, while over 10,000 schools had benefited from improved classrooms, water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, as well as teaching and learning materials.

Another major intervention is the HOPE-Education programme, supported by $552 million in World Bank funding, which targets 29 million children, more than 500,000 teachers, 65,000 public schools and 10,000 non-formal learning centres.

The ministry also highlighted the Inspire Live! initiative, which provides live online lessons for pupils from Primary One to Senior Secondary School Three, supported by certified teachers and artificial intelligence-assisted question-and-answer services.

On tertiary admissions, the government said it had removed the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination requirement for admission into National Certificate in Education programmes and reviewed entry requirements for selected National Diploma programmes.

To promote research and innovation, the administration introduced Research, Innovation and Commercialisation Committees in universities to encourage the transformation of academic research into practical solutions, businesses and employment opportunities.

The initiative also includes a National Laureate Prize with an annual award fund of ₦365 million to recognise excellence in research and innovation.

The document further disclosed that annual nursing enrolment had increased from 28,000 to 115,000, while medical and dental enrolment rose from 5,000 to 12,000.

Pharmacy enrolment also increased from 3,644 to 7,419, while ₦110 billion had been committed to the rehabilitation of 24 medical schools.

On efforts to tackle out-of-school children, the government reported that more than one million children had been reintegrated into the education system, while 200 bilingual learning centres had been established and 1,400 Tsangaya teachers trained.

It also listed 13,000 classrooms for construction or rehabilitation.
Similarly, the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund provides financial assistance of up to ₦10 million to academic and non-academic staff in public tertiary institutions for housing, transportation, medical needs, education and other welfare requirements.

The government said ₦28 billion had been disbursed to 15,000 workers across 153 public tertiary institutions under the programme.
Other initiatives include the reintroduction of the National Learning Assessment, a new national curriculum featuring Nigerian History and stronger emphasis on Civic and Heritage Studies, as well as renewable energy projects for universities and teaching hospitals.

Under the renewable energy programme, solar mini-grids had been installed in 37 federal universities and seven teaching hospitals, while 20 federal and state universities had been equipped with compressed natural gas refuelling stations.

The Student Venture Capital Grant, another initiative highlighted, attracted 30,639 registrations from 404 tertiary institutions, with 65 finalists selected.

The document stated that more than ₦2.5 billion had been disbursed to 45 student entrepreneurs, with each beneficiary receiving up to ₦50 million in equity-free funding.

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme also recorded more than 2.8 million applicants and 156,446 verified trainees.

It added that over ₦65.7 billion had been disbursed in stipends and start-up support to verified trainees, while ₦30.2 billion was paid to training centres.

The government also highlighted efforts to strengthen university financial autonomy through revenue diversification, improved governance, research commercialisation and partnerships with the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation.

On digital access, the ministry reported that more than 40 million learners and 215,000 schools had been mapped through the National Education Data Infrastructure to improve education planning.

It also disclosed that 16,000 learners had enrolled in the first cohort of the Digital Technical Academy, while 1,000 smart boards had been deployed across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Additionally, 111 tertiary institutions had been onboarded onto AWS Academy.

The government said 58 of 63 federal universities, 37 of 41 federal polytechnics and 27 of 29 federal colleges of education had been onboarded onto the Federal Tertiary Institutions Governance Portal.

More than four million learners had also been assigned Learner National Identification Numbers, against a target of 40 million by 2027.

Other programmes include the Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Incubation Certification initiative, currently being implemented in 14 federal universities, and the Zero-Rated Education initiative, which seeks to make approved educational platforms accessible to learners at reduced or no data costs.

The ministry said the initiatives collectively formed part of the administration’s broader efforts to improve education delivery, strengthen institutional capacity and expand opportunities for Nigerian students and educators.