Education in Nigeria

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, has an estimated 14.8 million school-age children not attending school. The northern regions are most affected, with more girls out of school than boys.

For children in school, nearly two-thirds struggle to read age-appropriate texts. To unlock large-scale and sustainable change, Nigeria is prioritizing accessible, equitable and inclusive foundational learning.

Nigeria's Partnership Compact aligns with the Federal Ministry of Education's Roadmap for the Nigerian Education Sector 2024-2027 and marks the commitment of the government, GPE and other partners to work together to drastically reduce the number of out-of-school children, improve teaching and learning especially at the foundational level, and strengthen basic education delivery.

Nigeria will increase access to inclusive learning environments by constructing classrooms and water and sanitation facilities with consideration for safety, gender and special needs, and by improving access to accelerated basic education programs for out-of-school children.

To boost the quality of learning, teachers will be trained to deliver foundational literacy and numeracy programs. Parent and community awareness programs are expected to build accountability and support for education.

Reforms to enhance education delivery target equitable distribution and better management of teachers; improved sector coordination and financing; and strengthening the production and use of data.

Activities supported by GPE's latest grants will be implemented at the federal level and in six states: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Kebbi, Kwara and Lagos.

As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) for the 2024-2026 period. This builds on previous support from the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF).

Learn more

• Nigeria is part of the KIX Africa 19 regional hub.
• KIX ongoing research projects:
  • Building Resilience through Inclusive Development and Gender-responsive Life Skills Education for Internally Displaced Adolescents in Nigeria (BRIDGE-IDAs)
  • Advancing Educational Solutions: Research for Scaling Education Innovations in Emergencies and Fragile, Conflict and Violence-affected areas of Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria
  • Africa Regional Education System Resilience Observatory
  • Optimizing teacher professional development at scale: Design-based implementation research for enhanced impact and sustainability
  • Pre-service teacher training: Defining the impact of inclusive approaches to enhance teaching quality
  • A comparative study of accelerated education programs and girls’ focused education models in Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone
  • Promoting positive early learning outcomes through strengthened capacity in learning through play - Evidence from Nigeria, the Gambia and Kenya
  • Connected learning for teacher capacity building in STEM
  • Observatory on COVID-19 Responses in Educational Systems in Africa
  • Common-scale assessment of early and foundational math learning across the Global South
  • Teaching at the Right Level – Learning how to improve teacher support through mentoring and monitoring

Learn more