The Federal Government has announced a shift to a data-driven system for education funding and resource allocation as part of ongoing reforms aimed at improving learning outcomes across Nigeria.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Monday during a roundtable session at the Education World Forum in London, where he engaged global education ministers and stakeholders on Nigeria’s education reforms.
According to a statement issued by his media aide, Ikharo Attah, Alausa revealed that nearly 80 per cent of donor support for education over the past decade was concentrated in the North-West and North-East despite the regions still recording poor literacy and numeracy performance.
The minister said findings from the National Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI) exposed major gaps in how education resources were previously distributed.
He explained that the Federal Government now intends to channel investments based on verified data and measurable results rather than assumptions.
Alausa stated that Nigeria has strengthened its foundational literacy and numeracy programme by introducing uniform teaching standards across both formal and non-formal education systems.
He said the government is expanding initiatives such as Reading and Numeracy Activity (RANA) and Teaching at the Right Level through the Universal Basic Education Commission across 15 states.
According to him, the programmes rely on structured lesson plans, constant teacher mentoring and regular student assessments to improve performance.
The minister also disclosed that the Accelerated Basic Education Programme developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council is helping out-of-school children gain foundational learning within three years before reintegrating into formal education.
He noted that both formal and non-formal learning systems are now connected to the NEDI platform, allowing authorities to monitor education coverage from a single central dashboard for the first time.
Alausa pointed to initiatives such as EKOEXCEL, KwaraLEARN and BayelsaPRIME as proof that technology-driven and data-focused reforms are already producing measurable improvements in learning outcomes.
According to him, KwaraLEARN reduced foundational learning deficiencies by half within two years, while BayelsaPRIME recorded a 20-point improvement in literacy within 19 weeks.
The minister said foundational literacy and numeracy reforms have become a key part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Programme.
He added that the government is finalising a National Policy on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy to establish a long-term legal framework for implementation across all levels of education.
Alausa also revealed that under Nigeria’s Partnership Compact with the Global Partnership for Education, 70 per cent of education funding is now tied to measurable achievements in learning, teacher management and effective use of data.
The minister further announced plans to increase the Universal Basic Education Commission’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, he explained that the Accelerated Basic Education Programme provides a direct pathway for affected children to return to the formal school system at junior secondary level.
According to him, both ABEP centres and regular schools now operate with the same learning materials, supervision structure and teacher coaching methods across participating states.
Alausa said the newly introduced NEDI platform has already improved transparency and accountability in the education sector by identifying weaknesses in previous donor-funded programmes.
He expressed confidence that the reforms would significantly reduce learning poverty by shifting attention from funding inputs to measurable academic outcomes.
The minister revealed that over 32 million students have already been captured on the NEDI platform, which currently covers more than 220,000 schools across 21 states.
The platform is designed as a central education database integrating records from agencies including UBEC, JAMB, NELFUND and the National Education Management Information System.
Examination bodies such as WAEC, NECO and NABTEB are also expected to feed data into the system.
A key feature of the initiative is the National Learner Identity Number, a unique identification system that will track every student throughout their academic journey to ensure accurate record-keeping.
The development followed the Federal Government’s inauguration of a 25-member committee in January 2025 to oversee the establishment of the NEDI system and harmonised education databank.
