Tinubu’s Education Reforms: NELFUND Disburses ₦372.6bn, TVET Trains 156,000

 

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has disbursed ₦372.62 billion in student loans, enrolled more than 156,000 trainees in its Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme, and facilitated the return of over one million out-of-school children to classrooms.

The figures were contained in the 2026 report of the Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), released by the Federal Ministry of Education and cited by the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council as evidence of progress under the administration’s education reforms.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, November 4, and signed by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, the council said the interventions covered basic, secondary, technical and tertiary education, with emphasis on vocational training, science and medical education, digitalisation, girl-child education and improved learning outcomes.

The statement said the Federal Government allocated ₦3.52 trillion to education in the 2026 budget and secured $552 million for the HOPE-EDU programme, which targets 29 million children, more than 500,000 teachers and 65,000 public schools.

It also credited the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme with bringing over one million out-of-school children back into learning, training 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and establishing 200 bilingual centres across 17 northern states.

Under the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), the report recorded 7.19 million girls reached, including 3.7 million enrolled in secondary schools. More than 10,000 schools have also reportedly benefited from improved facilities.

On curriculum and teacher development, the administration said it had introduced a revised national curriculum that reintroduces Nigerian History and strengthens Civic and Heritage Studies. The National Learning Assessment has also been restored to monitor pupils’ performance and identify learning gaps.

The EduRevamp initiative has recorded 53,553 teacher registrations, while 51,794 teachers joined the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway, a six-month programme designed to provide professional qualifications, certification and licensing.

With ₦2 billion in backing, the programme is targeting 250,000 teachers by 2027. The Inspire Live initiative is also providing online lessons from Primary One to Senior Secondary School Three, supported by certified teachers and artificial intelligence-assisted learning.

The TVET programme has attracted more than 2.8 million applications, with 156,446 verified trainees receiving free training, monthly stipends and start-up support. According to the report, ₦65.7 billion has been disbursed to trainees, while ₦30.2 billion has gone to training centres.

The Federal Government has also rehabilitated 38 technical colleges and introduced free technical education covering tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.

In the tertiary education sector, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has processed 1,659,853 student loan applications and disbursed ₦372.62 billion across 319 institutions. The amount comprises ₦192.89 billion for tuition and ₦179.73 billion for students’ upkeep allowances.

The statement further said the administration had resolved the longstanding dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), implemented an agreement providing a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and introduced improved welfare benefits.

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

The report also highlighted a ₦110 billion Federal Government investment in the rehabilitation of 18 federal medical schools across the six geopolitical zones. Nursing enrolment reportedly increased from 81,480 in 2023 to 114,300 in 2025, while 20 STEM-focused tertiary institutions have been approved and 12 engineering and technology faculties earmarked for rehabilitation.

On research and innovation, the government said it was providing ₦365 million annually for research through the National Laureate Prize, while the Student Venture Capital Grant had disbursed more than ₦2.5 billion to 45 student entrepreneurs. Each beneficiary is eligible for up to ₦50 million in equity-free funding.

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

Speaking on the reported progress, Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the success of the reforms should be judged by their impact on students, teachers and educational institutions rather than the volume of funds allocated or 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.