Two regions received 80% of education funding but remain worst in literacy — FG

The Federal Government has expressed concern that two geopolitical zones that received the bulk of development partners’ investments in education over the last decade still rank lowest in literacy and numeracy outcomes across the country.

Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, raised the concern on Thursday in Abuja during a stakeholders’ workshop on the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI).

According to the minister, data available to the Federal Government showed that nearly 80 per cent of education-sector financing from development banks and donor agencies in the last 10 years was concentrated in the two regions, yet learning outcomes remained poor.

“As we look at our data, the total amount of development bank financing and development partners’ investment shows that about 80 per cent of those investments in the last 10 years have gone to two geopolitical zones in the country. Yet, those two zones still have the lowest literacy and numeracy rates in the country,” Alausa said.

Although the minister did not specifically name the zones, data from the National Bureau of Statistics indicates that the North-West and North-East currently record the lowest literacy levels in Nigeria.

Alausa said the development highlighted the urgent need for accurate and harmonised education data to drive policy decisions, improve accountability and ensure more effective allocation of resources in the sector.

He explained that the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure initiative was introduced to strengthen data collection, management and analysis across the education system.

According to him, the platform will enable government and stakeholders to monitor progress, identify underserved communities and design interventions based on evidence.