Mark Aba, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has said the education reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration have expanded access to education, improved teachers’ welfare and strengthened academic stability in tertiary institutions.
The council said the achievements cut across basic, secondary, technical and tertiary education, citing figures from the Federal Ministry of Education’s Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) 2026 report.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the council’s spokesperson, Dele Alake, said the administration’s interventions were focused on six priority areas: technical and vocational education, science and medical sciences, out-of-school children, girl-child education, digitalisation and education quality assurance.
According to the report, the Federal Government allocated N3.52 trillion to education in the 2026 budget and secured $552 million for the HOPE-EDU programme, which is expected to benefit 29 million children, more than 500,000 teachers and 65,000 public schools.
The report also disclosed that the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme had returned more than one million out-of-school children to classrooms, trained 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and established 200 bilingual learning 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 under the initiative.
On curriculum development, the report highlighted the introduction of a revised national curriculum that reintroduces Nigerian History and strengthens the teaching of Civic and Heritage Studies.
It added that the National Learning Assessment had been restored to monitor pupils’ academic performance and identify learning gaps.
Under the EduRevamp initiative, 53,553 teachers have registered, while 51,794 participated in the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP).
The six-month programme is designed to provide teachers with professional qualifications, certification and licensing, with a N2 billion allocation and a target of reaching 250,000 teachers by 2027.
The government has also introduced Inspire Live, an online learning platform offering lessons from Primary One to Senior Secondary School Three, supported by certified teachers and artificial intelligence-assisted learning.
In technical education, the council said the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme had attracted more than 2.8 million applications, with 156,446 verified trainees benefiting from free training, monthly stipends and start-up support.
It said more than N65.7 billion had been disbursed to trainees, while N30.2 billion had been released to training centres.
The Federal Government has also rehabilitated 38 technical colleges and introduced free technical education covering tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), another major intervention, has processed 1,659,853 student loan applications and disbursed N372.62 billion to beneficiaries in 319 tertiary institutions.
The amount comprises N192.89 billion for tuition fees and N179.73 billion for students’ upkeep allowances.
On industrial relations in the university system, the council said the administration had resolved the longstanding dispute involving the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and implemented an agreement providing a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration, alongside improved welfare benefits.
It added that the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund had disbursed N28 billion to 15,000 workers across 153 public institutions.
The scheme provides eligible workers with loans of up to N10 million to support housing, healthcare, transportation and educational needs.
In medical and science education, the Federal Government is investing N110 billion in the rehabilitation of 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 earmarked for rehabilitation.
The council also highlighted government initiatives aimed at strengthening research, innovation and entrepreneurship in tertiary institutions.
It said N365 million was being provided annually for research and innovation through the National Laureate Prize.
The Student Venture Capital Grant has also disbursed more than N2.5 billion to 45 student entrepreneurs, with each beneficiary eligible for up to N50 million in equity-free funding.
According to the statement, “entrepreneurship certification programmes are 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.”
Commenting on the reported achievements, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the impact of the reforms should be measured by the difference they make in the lives of students, teachers and educational institutions rather than solely by budgetary allocations 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,” Alausa said.
The APC Presidential Campaign Council said the figures highlighted the Federal Government’s interventions across the different levels of the education sector.
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