The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has disclosed that about 8.7 million learners across Nigeria have benefited from improved learning conditions and instructional materials under ongoing reforms in the basic education sector.
The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Aisha Garba, made this known at the opening of the 29th Quarterly Meeting of UBEC Management with Executive Chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) on Tuesday in Abuja.
The meeting, themed “Accelerating Basic Education Performance Through Digitally Enabled Coordination,” focused on strategies to enhance service delivery in the sector.
Garba said the achievements were driven by the coordinated implementation of reforms under the 2025–2031 Strategic Blueprint, aimed at strengthening education delivery nationwide.
She noted that more than 244,000 teachers had been trained in inclusive pedagogy and digital literacy to improve teaching quality and learning outcomes.
According to her, UBEC’s renewed approach has repositioned the commission from being solely a funding institution to a system enabler focused on alignment, accountability and measurable impact across states.
“Over the past year, we have entered a decisive phase in the evolution of the Universal Basic Education programme,” she said.
“Throughout 2025, our focus shifted from diagnosing systemic challenges to implementing coordinated, large-scale reforms under the 2025–2031 Strategic Blueprint.
“This transition reflects our renewed role, not only as a funding institution but also as a systems enabler, driving alignment, strengthening delivery and ensuring that impact is felt across all states.”
Garba added that sustained data-driven advocacy enabled the commission to unlock over N100 billion in previously unaccessed matching grants, with 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory currently accessing basic education funds.
She further disclosed that revised Matching Grants Guidelines had been finalised to ensure transparency, efficiency and improved utilisation of education resources.
On project delivery, the UBEC boss said procurement performance improved significantly, with a 95 per cent completion rate recorded for 2024 projects, resulting in timely nationwide interventions.
Garba also highlighted that digitisation remained central to UBEC’s reform agenda through the Digitalisation of Public Schools Initiative, implemented in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.
She explained that the initiative had expanded access to digital learning platforms, strengthened teachers’ digital capacity and enhanced classroom instruction through interactive content.
She urged SUBEB chairmen to institutionalise digital systems in planning, monitoring and implementation processes to strengthen accountability and improve learning outcomes.
Also speaking, the Kwara SUBEB Chairman, Shehu Adaramaja, stressed the need for education stakeholders to adopt digital tools to improve coordination and policy implementation in Nigeria’s basic education sector.
Adaramaja said digital tools were essential for effective coordination between the UBE programme and state education boards, warning that fragmented communication and delays often undermine well-designed policies.
In his remarks, Jutaro Sakamoto, called for continuous training and retraining of teachers to enhance performance.
Sakamoto also reaffirmed the commitment of the UNICEF to supporting Nigeria’s universal basic education sub-sector.
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