Today, the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, alongside the Honourable Minister of State, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmed launched two landmark initiatives at the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Digital Resource Centre (DRC): (1) the Universal Basic Education (UBE) School-Based Management Committee-School Improvement Programme (SBMC-SIP) and (2) the Teacher Professional Development (TPD).
The Ministry’s belief in every child’s right to access quality education in safe, supportive environments aligns fully with the vision of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, whose Renewed Hope Agenda places education and human capital development at the heart of national transformation. The President has made it clear: children must learn, teachers must be equipped, and schools must serve as engines of opportunity for every Nigerian household.
In his speech, Dr Alausa explained how the programmes launched today go beyond mere grant disbursements. He said “they are strategic initiatives designed to place communities at the centre of school governance, ownership, and accountability, while reinforcing the fact that no education system can exceed the quality of its teachers”.
The event was well attended by stakeholders Basic Education House of Rep Members, Development Partners, Commissioners of Education and SUBEBS — who were each given millions of Naira to effectively implement both initiatives.
To support the TPD, UBEC and the Ministry are in the process of developing Teacher Guides that will be distributed nationwide to aid the rollout of the new Basic Education curriculum by the September 2025/ July 2026 academic session.
For effective implementation, the Minister urged every State and Local Government Authority to: co-finance and sustain SBMC-led interventions; monitor project quality and school-level performance; and scale up investments that complement federal support, particularly in hard-to-reach and underserved communities.
Additionally, as part of the shared commitment to educational transformation, the Minister made mention of the Federal Government commitment to support UBEC’s 2025–2027 Bold Commitments, which will ensure the construction of:
– 7,200 new UBE facilities
– 1.68 million units of classroom furniture
– Renovation of 195,000 classrooms nationwide
– Delivery of 22,900 boreholes and 28,000 toilets
– Fencing of 14,000 schools to improve safety, particularly for girls
In their address both Ministers also commended the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and its Executive Secretary, Aisha Mohammed Garba, for the visionary implementation of these programmes.
Minister Alausa hopes for these efforts to continue to strengthen the foundation of learning in Nigeria and build the human capital necessary for a future of peace, prosperity, and possibility.
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.
