……Over one million out-of-school children return to classrooms
ABUJA – The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has highlighted the achievements of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in the education sector, citing the disbursement of ₦372.62 billion in student loans, enrolment of over 156,000 beneficiaries in technical and vocational education, and the return of more than one million out-of-school children to classrooms.
The council said the administration’s education reforms had expanded access to learning, improved teachers’ welfare, strengthened technical education and helped stabilise the academic calendar in tertiary institutions across the country.
The achievements were contained in the 2026 report of the Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), released by the Federal Ministry of Education.
According to the council, the reforms cover basic, secondary and tertiary education, with particular attention to six priority areas: technical and vocational education, science and medical sciences, out-of-school children, girl-child education, digitalisation and education quality assurance.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake, the administration was said to have allocated a record ₦3.52 trillion to education in the 2026 budget.
The Federal Government also secured $552 million for the HOPE-EDU programme, which targets 29 million children, more than 500,000 teachers and 65,000 public schools.
The council further disclosed that the Better Education Service Delivery for All programme had returned over one million out-of-school children to learning, trained 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and established 200 bilingual centres across 17 northern states.
It added that the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment programme had reached 7.19 million girls, with 3.7 million enrolled in secondary schools, while more than 10,000 schools had benefited from improved facilities.
On curriculum development and teachers’ welfare, the council said the administration had introduced a revised national curriculum that reintroduced Nigerian History and strengthened Civic and Heritage Studies.
It also noted that the National Learning Assessment had been restored to monitor pupils’ academic performance and identify learning gaps.
Under the EduRevamp initiative, 53,553 teachers had registered, while 51,794 joined the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway, a six-month programme designed to provide professional qualifications, certification and licensing.
The programme, backed by ₦2 billion, is targeting 250,000 teachers by 2027.
The council also highlighted the Inspire Live initiative, which provides online lessons for pupils from Primary One to Senior Secondary School Three, with support from certified teachers and artificial intelligence-assisted learning.
On technical and vocational education, the APC campaign council disclosed that the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme had attracted more than 2.8 million applications.
It said 156,446 verified trainees had received free training, monthly stipends and start-up support, while over ₦65.7 billion had been disbursed to trainees and another ₦30.2 billion paid to training centres.
The government, according to the statement, had also rehabilitated 38 technical colleges and introduced free technical education covering tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.
The council also described the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as one of the flagship interventions of the Tinubu administration, disclosing that the scheme had processed 1,659,853 student loan applications.
It said ₦372.62 billion had been disbursed, comprising ₦192.89 billion for tuition fees and ₦179.73 billion for students’ upkeep allowances across 319 tertiary institutions.
The statement also said the administration had resolved the longstanding dispute between 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.
Additionally, the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund had disbursed ₦28 billion to 15,000 workers across 153 public institutions.
On medical and science education, the council disclosed that the Federal Government was investing ₦110 billion in the rehabilitation of 18 federal medical schools across the six geopolitical zones.
It added that nursing enrolment increased from 81,480 in 2023 to 114,300 in 2025, while 20 STEM-focused tertiary institutions had been approved and 12 engineering and technology faculties earmarked for rehabilitation.
According to the council, the Federal Government provides ₦365 million annually for research and innovation through the National Laureate Prize, while the Student Venture Capital Grant had disbursed more than ₦2.5 billion to 45 student entrepreneurs.
Each beneficiary is eligible for up to ₦50 million in equity-free funding.