Tinubu’s Education Reforms Deliver N372bn Student Loans, 156,000 TVET Beneficiaries – APC

All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council says President Bola Tinubu’s education reforms have resulted in the disbursement of N372.62 billion in student loans and the enrolment of 156,446 Nigerians in technical and vocational training programmes.

The council also disclosed that over one million out-of-school children had returned to classrooms, while millions of girls had benefitted from government interventions aimed at expanding access to education.

The achievements, according to the council, were contained in the Federal Ministry of Education’s Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) 2026 Report.

In a statement issued yesterday by the spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake, the council said the administration’s interventions covered basic and secondary education, technical and vocational training, and tertiary education.

It said the reforms focused on six priority areas: technical and vocational education, science and medical sciences, out-of-school children, girl-child education, digitalisation and education quality assurance.

On basic education funding, the council said the federal government allocated a record N3.52 trillion to education in the 2026 budget and secured $552 million for the HOPE-EDU programme.

The programme targets 29 million children, over 500,000 teachers and 65,000 public schools.

It added that the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme had returned over one million out-of-school children to learning, trained 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and established 200 bilingual centres in 17 northern states.

The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) programme has also reached 7.19 million girls, with 3.7 million enrolled in secondary schools, while over 10,000 schools have benefited from improved facilities.

On curriculum reform and teacher development, the council said the administration had introduced a revised national curriculum that reintroduced Nigerian History and strengthened Civic and Heritage Studies.

It added that the National Learning Assessment had been restored to monitor pupils’ performance and identify learning gaps.

Under the EduRevamp initiative, 53,553 teachers had registered, while 51,794 joined the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP).

The six-month programme provides professional qualifications, certification and licensing, with a ₦2 billion backing and a target of 250,000 teachers by 2027.

The council also highlighted the Inspire Live initiative, which provides online lessons from Primary One to Senior Secondary School Three, supported by certified teachers and artificial intelligence-assisted learning.

On technical and vocational education, it said the government’s TVET scheme had attracted over 2.8 million applications, with 156,446 verified trainees receiving free training, monthly stipends and start-up support.

More than ₦65.7 billion had been disbursed to trainees, while another ₦30.2 billion had gone to training centres.

The government had also rehabilitated 38 technical colleges and introduced free technical education covering tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.

On tertiary education financing, the council said the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) had processed 1,659,853 student loan applications and disbursed ₦372.62 billion across 319 tertiary institutions.

The amount comprises ₦192.89 billion for tuition and ₦179.73 billion for students’ upkeep allowances.

It further said the administration had resolved the longstanding dispute between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government, implementing an agreement that provided for a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and improved welfare benefits.

Additionally, the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund had disbursed ₦28 billion to 15,000 workers across 153 public institutions, offering eligible staff loans of up to ₦10 million for housing, healthcare, transportation and education.

On medical and science education, the council said the Federal Government was investing ₦110 billion to rehabilitate 18 federal medical schools across the six geopolitical zones.

It added that nursing enrolment increased from 81,480 in 2023 to 114,300 in 2025, while 20 STEM-focused tertiary institutions had been approved and 12 engineering and technology faculties targeted for rehabilitation.

On research, innovation and entrepreneurship, the council said the Federal Government had provided ₦365 million annually for research and innovation through the National Laureate Prize.

It added that the Student Venture Capital Grant had disbursed over ₦2.5 billion to 45 student entrepreneurs, with each beneficiary eligible to access up to ₦50 million in equity-free funding.

Entrepreneurship certification was also ongoing in 14 federal universities, while the Diaspora BRIDGE initiative had registered 1,141 Nigerian experts abroad and reached 16,675 students across 107 tertiary institutions.

Speaking on the achievements recorded in the sector, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the success of the Tinubu administration’s education reforms would be measured by their impact on students, teachers and institutions rather than the amount of money allocated or the number of programmes introduced.

“Our measure of success is not merely the amount of money allocated to education or the number of programmes introduced. It is the difference these interventions make in the lives of our children, students, teachers and institutions,” he said.