Nigeria unifies literacy delivery under one national standard—Alausa

… has credible data for education resource allocation

In its drive to improve learning outcomes, Nigeria has adopted a unified national standard for foundational literacy delivery, according to Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, a move that aims to strengthen basic education across the country.

Alausa made this known while speaking at the Education World Forum (EWF) in London on Monday, where he engaged education ministers and global stakeholders on Nigeria’s foundational learning reforms.

According to a statement issued by Ikharo Attah, the special adviser on media and communication to the minister, Alausa disclosed that Nigeria had successfully unified foundational literacy delivery under a single national standard covering both formal and non-formal education systems.

“We’re 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,” Alausa said.

The minister emphasised that the federal government now has credible data to guide more effective allocation of resources in the education sector.

He noted that the accelerated basic education programme (ABEP), developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), 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,” the minister noted.

Besides, Alausa explained efforts made by the federal government to address Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis when he said that the 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.

The minister further explained that the newly deployed National Education Data Initiative (NEDI) had exposed critical gaps in donor funding effectiveness, hence ensuring accountability and data-driven governance.

He emphasised that 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.

Moreover, the minister said the federal government is 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 percent of funding is tied to measurable outcomes in learning, teacher management and data utilisation,” he said.

In addition, he said, “The federal government plans to increase the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) share of the consolidated revenue fund from two to four percent.”