Tinubu’s Education Reforms Expand Access to Learning, Improve Teachers’ Welfare – Report
Tinubu's Education Reforms Expand Access to Learning, Improve Teachers' Welfare – Report
Tinubu’s Education Reforms Expand Access to Learning, Improve Teachers’ Welfare – Report
President Bola Tinubu’s education reforms since assuming office have expanded access to learning, improved teachers’ welfare and helped stabilise the academic calendar across higher institutions in the country.
According to the Federal Ministry of Education’s Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) 2026 report, the reforms cover basic and secondary education, technical and vocational training, as well as tertiary education.
The report identified six priority areas of intervention: technical and vocational education, science and medical sciences, out-of-school children, girl-child education, digitalisation and education quality assurance.
Increased Funding for Basic Education
The NESRI report stated that the Federal Government allocated a record ₦3.52 trillion to education in the 2026 budget and secured $552 million for the HOPE-EDU programme, which targets 29 million children, over 500,000 teachers and 65,000 public schools.
It also reported that the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme has returned over one million out-of-school children to learning, trained 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and established 200 bilingual centres across 17 northern states.
Similarly, the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) programme has reached 7.19 million girls, with 3.7 million enrolled in secondary schools. More than 10,000 schools have also benefited from improved facilities.
Curriculum Reform and Teacher Development
The report highlighted the introduction of a revised national curriculum, which reintroduces Nigerian History and strengthens Civic and Heritage Studies. The National Learning Assessment has also been restored to monitor pupils’ performance and identify learning gaps.
Under the EduRevamp initiative, 53,553 teachers have registered, while 51,794 joined the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP), a six-month programme offering professional qualifications, certification and licensing.
With ₦2 billion in funding, the programme targets 250,000 teachers by 2027.
The Inspire Live initiative also provides online lessons from Primary One to Senior Secondary School Three, supported by certified teachers and artificial intelligence-assisted learning.
TVET Programme Records Over 156,000 Beneficiaries
The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme has attracted over 2.8 million applications, with 156,446 verified trainees receiving free training, monthly stipends and start-up support.
The report disclosed that more than ₦65.7 billion has been disbursed to trainees, while another ₦30.2 billion has gone to training centres.
The government has also rehabilitated 38 technical colleges and introduced free technical education covering tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.
NELFUND Disburses ₦372.62 Billion in Student Loans
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), one of the administration’s flagship education programmes, has processed 1,659,853 student loan applications and disbursed ₦372.62 billion to beneficiaries across 319 tertiary institutions.
The amount comprises ₦192.89 billion for tuition fees and ₦179.73 billion for students’ upkeep allowances.
The administration has also resolved the longstanding dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and implemented an agreement that provides a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and improved welfare benefits.
In addition, the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund has disbursed ₦28 billion to 15,000 workers across 153 public institutions, providing eligible staff with loans of up to ₦10 million for housing, healthcare, transportation and education.
Expansion of Medical and STEMM Education
The Federal Government is investing ₦110 billion to rehabilitate 18 federal medical schools across the six geopolitical zones.
The report also showed that nursing enrolment increased from 81,480 in 2023 to 114,300 in 2025.
Furthermore, 20 STEM-focused tertiary institutions have been approved, while 12 engineering and technology faculties are targeted for rehabilitation.
Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
In the area of research and innovation, the Federal Government has provided ₦365 million annually through the National Laureate Prize to support research and innovation.
The Student Venture Capital Grant has also disbursed over ₦2.5 billion to 45 student entrepreneurs, with each beneficiary eligible for up to ₦50 million in equity-free funding.
Entrepreneurship certification is ongoing in 14 federal universities, while the Diaspora BRIDGE initiative has registered 1,141 Nigerian experts abroad and reached 16,675 students across 107 tertiary institutions.
Speaking on the achievements recorded so far, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the success of the Tinubu administration’s education reforms would be measured by their impact on students, teachers and institutions rather than the amount of money allocated or the number of programmes introduced.
“Our measure of success is not merely the amount of money allocated to education or the number of programmes introduced. It is the difference these interventions make in the lives of our children, students, teachers and institutions,” he said.
Tinubu’s Education Reforms Expand Access to Learning, Improve Teachers’ Welfare – Report
