The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) says it has unlocked more than ₦100 billion previously unaccessed education grants, disturbed to states and the Federal Capital Territory to speed up reforms in Nigeria’s basic education sector.
Executive Secretary of UBEC, Aisha Garba, made this known during an interaction with education correspondence in Abuja.
Garba said the funds, which had been left untouched for several years, are now being channeled into school infrastructure, teacher training and programmes aimed at raising learning outcomes across the country.
According to her, the release aligns with UBEC’s revamped 2025–2031 Strategic Blueprint, which is focused on achieving clear and measurable gains in access to quality basic education nationwide.
She noted that the grants are already supporting large-scale projects across the country. These include the building of over 4,600 new classrooms, the rehabilitation of more than 6,100 existing ones, the installation of 2,780 toilets and 678 boreholes, as well as the supply of over 334,000 units of school furniture.
Garba also said the Commission has set up more than 2,300 Early Childhood Care, Development and Education centres to broaden access to early learning for young children.
Teacher development, she added, remains a key pillar of UBEC’s reform agenda. The Commission has committed over ₦20.4 billion to professional training aimed at improving teaching delivery, strengthening school management and boosting accountability.
The UBEC boss further disclosed that the Commission is scaling up technology-driven learning through Digital Literacy Centres and Smart Schools, while also introducing artificial intelligence, coding and robotics into basic education classrooms.
Garba said the Commission has equally distributed over 7.8 million instructional materials to schools to improve literacy, numeracy and foundational learning.
On his part, the chairman of the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria, ECAN, Chuks Ukwuatu, urged UBEC to maintain consistent dialogue with the media to counter misinformation and speculation.
Ukwuatu stressed that steady engagement with journalists is essential for openness, accountability and public awareness.
“We believe that frequent conversations between education reporters and key institutions in the sector will improve public understanding of government policies and programmes, while also encouraging more informed discussions on issues affecting basic education,” he said.
