The Federal Government has frowned at the use of poor-quality instructional materials in schools across the country, and taken steps to address the challenge.
Stakeholders have repeatedly raised concerns over the use of substandard instructional materials, noting the negative effects, including increasing knowledge gaps, reducing student motivation and performance, hindering hands-on learning and exacerbating educational inequalities.
Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, expressed the government’s concerns while inaugurating a Book Ranking and Selection Committee aimed at improving the quality and affordability of textbooks used in Nigerian schools.
He said the initiative sought to reform the existing textbook approval process, which had allowed poor-quality materials, lack of standardisation and excessive financial burden on parents to persist.
Alausa noted that the current system failed to properly validate and rank textbooks before approval, resulting in some subjects having as many as 50 approved books without clear quality benchmarks.
According to him, the absence of a structured ranking system meant that low-quality instructional materials were approved alongside books of higher pedagogical value.
The minister also criticised publishers for bundling workbooks and consumables with core textbooks, a practice he said forces parents to purchase new books annually and places unnecessary financial pressure on families.
He said the new committee would introduce reforms to cap the number of approved textbooks per subject, ensure transparent and objective ranking, and protect learners and parents from exploitative practices.
He added that only seven textbooks per subject would be officially ranked for selection by schools, particularly under the Universal Basic Education Commission framework.
Alausa said once ranked, textbooks would remain in use for a minimum of three years, except where major curriculum or technological changes necessitate updates.
The committee is chaired by the Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, with members drawn from key education agencies, including the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), UBEC, the National Teachers’ Institute and the National Senior Secondary Education Commission.
In her remarks, Ahmad pledged the committee’s commitment to ensuring learners have access to high-quality instructional materials.
Also speaking, NERDC Executive Secretary, Prof. Salisu Shehu, said the initiative would end arbitrary book selection in schools and ensure that only the best instructional materials are adopted nationwide.
