The Federal Government has disbursed N22 billion to state governments for the training of 224,000 teachers and education managers across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) initiative.
Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, announced this on Monday in Abuja during the national flag-off of the School-Based Management Committee-School Improvement Programme (SBMCSIP) and Teacher Professional Development (TPD) activities.
The funding, sourced from the Federal Government/UBE intervention fund, aims to enhance the quality of basic education across Nigeria. Each state is set to receive N598 million for teacher training in key areas. Additionally, N2 billion has been allocated to support over 1,147 school-based management committees, targeting over 15,000 improvement projects such as classroom renovations, furniture supply, security upgrades, and workshop construction.
Each committee received a cheque of N1.8 million, with the projects expected to benefit over 56,000 schools and impact more than 17 million learners.
Dr. Alausa reaffirmed the Tinubu administration’s commitment to delivering quality education in safe, functional environments, noting that the initiative aligns with the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which places education and human capital development at the heart of national transformation.
“This initiative will promote community involvement, address the challenge of out-of-school children, and improve learning environments across the country,” the Minister said.
He also highlighted the new competence-based curriculum recently introduced and emphasized the importance of teacher quality in driving better learning outcomes.
Commending UBEC’s efforts, the Minister called on states and local governments to build upon the federal intervention by contributing additional resources and ensuring proper monitoring.
He also pledged the Ministry’s support for UBEC’s 2025–2027 strategic goals, which include the construction of 7,200 new UBE facilities, renovation of 195,000 classrooms, provision of 1.68 million furniture items, 22,900 boreholes, 28,000 toilets, and perimeter fencing for 14,000 schools.
Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad, described the SBMCSIP launch as a testament to the government’s resolve to create an enabling environment for stakeholders to contribute to educational transformation.
In her remarks, UBEC Executive Secretary, Aisha Garba, emphasized the urgent need for targeted interventions, revealing that over 17 million school-age children remain out of school—particularly in rural and low-income areas.
“Despite a 7% increase in enrolment between 2016 and 2021, access remains limited. Only 9% of children in rural areas demonstrate age-appropriate reading skills. These figures are a call to action,” she stated.
