Nigeria’s education crisis is access, not enrolment — Alausa

By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has identified limited access to education as Nigeria’s biggest challenge, saying the country’s education crisis is not about enrolment but the inability of millions of children to progress through the school system.

Alausa spoke on Wednesday at the 2026 Annual Education Summit of the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN) in Abuja, where he urged journalists to rely on official data to hold state governments and local councils accountable for the state of education in their jurisdictions.

The summit, themed: “Three Years of the Tinubu Administration: Assessing Reforms, Progress and Challenges in Nigeria’s Education Sector,” brought together education stakeholders, policymakers and journalists to assess developments and challenges in the sector.

The minister specifically encouraged education reporters to move beyond routine event coverage and embrace investigative, data-driven journalism that would expose gaps in infrastructure, teacher availability and learning conditions across the country.

He directed journalists to utilise the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure Management System (NEDIMS), describing it as a reliable platform containing detailed information on schools, teachers, classrooms and learning facilities nationwide.

Quoting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s emphasis on evidence-based governance, Alausa said access to accurate data would enable journalists and citizens to demand accountability from public officials.

“If you don’t use data, it is like you are flying blind. Without data, you cannot do anything.

“We want you journalists to go to the website and use that data to challenge governors and local government chairmen.

“You can now know the teacher-to-classroom ratio, student-to-teacher ratio, student-to-classroom ratio and the facilities available down to the school level. This is using data for public good, and you are the mouthpiece of the nation,” he said.

The minister said the availability of education data had provided journalists with unprecedented opportunities to track government performance and highlight areas requiring urgent intervention.

He maintained that quality journalism supported by verifiable facts would strengthen accountability and improve education outcomes.

Alausa described education as one of the most important investments any country could make, noting that the Tinubu administration had prioritised the sector under its Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said ongoing reforms were focused on six key areas, including Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), digital transformation, reducing the number of out-of-school children, quality assurance and improved education governance.

Highlighting progress in tertiary education, the minister said Nigeria had recorded three consecutive years without disruption of academic activities in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

He attributed the development to improved engagement between government and tertiary institution unions, particularly the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

“For once, in three years, we have not had any stoppage in our tertiary education system. This is a big deal, and I think the President deserves a big hand for that,” he said.

Alausa also disclosed that Nigeria had recorded improvement in global university rankings, with 24 Nigerian universities now ranked among the world’s top 1,000 institutions, compared with 21 previously.

He noted that 17 of the ranked universities were public institutions, adding that public universities now occupy the top four positions in the country’s university rankings.

“Up to 2025, the top four best universities in Nigeria were all private universities. Today, the top four universities are public universities,” he said.

However, the minister acknowledged that access remained the country’s most pressing education challenge.

He revealed that while Nigeria has nearly 25 million pupils enrolled in primary schools, only about five million continue to junior secondary education.

“That means about 20 million children dropped off from primary school to junior secondary school. Where are those children? That is a big problem,” he said.

According to him, the challenge was largely linked to inadequate infrastructure, noting that Nigeria has about 90,000 primary schools compared with only about 16,000 junior secondary schools.

“The ratio is one to eight. That tells you the major problem. The problem is access,” he stated.

On the issue of out-of-school children, Alausa said government interventions had returned more than one million children to classrooms within the last two years.

He, however, admitted that existing estimates on the number of out-of-school children required updating and disclosed that the ministry was working with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on a comprehensive household survey to generate more accurate data.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, urged journalists to support education reforms through balanced and responsible reporting.

“Education is the foundation upon which we build a productive economy, strengthen democratic institutions, reduce poverty and promote social cohesion,” she said.

The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Aisha Garba, reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to ensuring that every Nigerian child has access to quality basic education regardless of background or location.

“The most important objective is that no child should be left behind. Regardless of background, location or income level, every child must have access to quality education,” she said.

Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council, Mrs. Grace Ike, called on the media to intensify efforts towards promoting accountability and public awareness in the education sector.

She stressed that government, parents, school administrators, policymakers and journalists must work together to address challenges affecting the sector.

The Special Adviser to the Minister of Education on Media and Communication, Mr. Ikharo Attah, also advocated evidence-based journalism, saying credible reporting must be guided by facts rather than assumptions.

Earlier, ECAN Chairman, Mr. Chuks Ukwauta, said the summit was organised to examine the achievements, reforms and challenges recorded in Nigeria’s education sector under the Tinubu administration.

He identified inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, teacher development, weak learning outcomes and the growing population of out-of-school children as some of the major challenges requiring urgent attention.

The summit ended with the presentation of awards to the Minister of Education and heads of education agencies in recognition of their contributions to education reforms, alongside technical sessions by officials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the National Universities Commission (NUC).