The Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has set 70 per cent as the minimum benchmark for textbooks to qualify for national ranking, drawing a firm line against substandard instructional materials in Nigerian classrooms.
He spoke in Abuja while receiving the first national textbook assessment and ranking report, describing it as further proof of the Federal Government’s commitment under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to strengthen quality across the education system.
The Minister, in a statement by Attah Ikharo, Special Adviser on Media and Communications, said the assessment is part of a broader quality assurance drive following the introduction of the revised national curriculum in September 2025.
The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) developed a standardised assessment toolkit, benchmarked against international best practices, to ensure textbooks are aligned with the new curriculum.
According to him, curriculum alignment accounted for 51 per cent of the total score, while other criteria included language and style, instructional design, technical features, social and cultural compliance, and gender sensitivity.
The assessment revealed significant variations in quality, with some textbooks scoring as low as 25 per cent.
Reacting to the findings, the Minister said: “Some of the books being used in our schools, primary schools, junior secondary schools and senior secondary schools are trash. Some of these books are scoring 25% or lower. Is this the way our children should be educated? If this happened with the government, it will not happen with this government.”
Dr. Alausa, however, stressed the assessment was not designed to shut publishers out.
He urged the Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA) and affected publishers to study the results, address shortcomings, align materials with the revised curriculum and resubmit.
“I’m giving you the olive branch,” he said, while commending publishers who participated despite “pressure and blackmail.”
The Minister explained that the national assessment will be conducted in three cycles to cover all levels of basic and senior secondary education:
Cycle 1: Primary 1 and 4, JSS 1 and SS 1
Cycle 2: Primary 2 and 5, JSS 2 and SS 2
Cycle 3: Primary 3 and 6, JSS 3 and SS 3
He added that the curriculum will henceforth be reviewed every three years to keep it responsive to educational, technological and societal needs.
NERDC: Process Was Evidence-Based
The Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof. Salisu Shehu, said the assessment was undertaken in line with the Council’s statutory mandate.
He noted that subject specialists, education experts and NERDC personnel worked with an approved scoring framework, with peer review incorporated to ensure no single officer determined the outcome.
Prof. Shehu said the 70 per cent threshold was adopted specifically as the minimum standard for ranking, meaning submissions below it will not qualify.
He added that scores as low as 25 per cent underscored the need for a transparent, evidence-based national mechanism for determining the quality of instructional materials.
Reaffirming President Tinubu’s commitment to raising education standards, Dr. Alausa said the outcome will serve as a quality-control mechanism, giving publishers clear evidence of areas for improvement.
“Every instructional material presented to a Nigerian learner must be accurate, curriculum-aligned and fit for purpose. The Government will not compromise on quality because every Nigerian child deserves a textbook worthy of the education they are being prepared to receive,” he said.
The Federal Government assured it will continue to work with publishers willing to meet the benchmark, while those already meeting it will be expected to sustain and improve their standards.