Minister Decries 80% Donor Funding To North Amid Literacy Crisis

Nigeria’s minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has said about 80 per cent of donor funding for education over the last decade was chanelled to the North-West and North-East regions of the country.

Despite the huge investments, Alausa lamented that both regions still record the lowest literacy and numeracy rates nationwide, stressing that the federal government now has credible data to guide more effective allocation of resources.

This was contained in a press statement issued by the special adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister of Education, Ikharo Attah in Abuja.

He said the minister spoke yesterday during a special roundtable session at the Education World Forum (EWF) in London, United Kingdom, where he engaged education ministers and global stakeholders on Nigeria’s foundational learning reforms.

“NEDI data revealed a key issue: 80% 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,” he said.

On Nigeria’s Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) initiatives, the minister said the country has unified foundational literacy delivery under a single national standard covering both formal and non-formal education systems.

“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 said.

According to him, the Accelerated Basic Education Programme (ABEP), developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, delivers the same foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes for out-of-school children and adolescents 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 highlighted several state-led reforms already delivering measurable outcomes, citing programmes such as EKOEXCEL, KwaraLEARN and BayelsaPRIME as examples of successful, data-driven and technology-enabled teaching models.

“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.

On policy and funding reforms, Alausa said foundational literacy and numeracy now sit at the centre of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Programme.

He disclosed that the federal government was finalising a National Policy on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy to provide a sustainable legal and institutional framework for reforms across federal, state and non-formal education systems.

“Through our Partnership Compact with GPE, 70 per cent of funding is tied to measurable outcomes in learning, teacher management and data utilisation,” he said.

Alausa further revealed 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 funding for basic education.

Speaking on efforts to address Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis, the minister explained that ABEP provides a recognised pathway for children outside the formal system to transition into Junior Secondary School.

“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 said.

On accountability and data-driven governance, Alausa said the newly deployed National Education Data Initiative had exposed critical gaps in donor funding effectiveness.