The Federal Government has moved to strengthen the quality of classroom learning in Nigerian schools by introducing a national benchmark that will determine which textbooks are fit for use, following the discovery of instructional materials that scored as low as 25 per cent in the country’s first national textbook assessment.
Under the new framework, only textbooks that attain a minimum score of 70 per cent will make the national ranking, a development the government says is aimed at ensuring that Nigerian pupils and students learn from materials that are accurate, relevant and consistent with the national curriculum.
The intervention assumes greater significance as schools adjust to the revised national curriculum introduced in September 2025, with the Federal Government seeking to prevent a situation where outdated, poorly written or curriculum-incompatible books undermine the objectives of the new learning framework.
Receiving the assessment report in Abuja on Friday, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the quality of instructional materials could no longer be treated as a peripheral issue in the country’s education system, warning that poorly produced textbooks could negatively affect what children learn and how effectively teachers deliver lessons.
Alausa said the assessment had exposed serious deficiencies in some textbooks submitted for use in primary and secondary schools, with some materials recording scores of 25 per cent or below. He maintained that allowing such materials to remain in classrooms would amount to compromising the education of Nigerian children.
The assessment, conducted by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NERDC, examined textbooks against several quality indicators, with curriculum alignment accounting for 51 per cent of the overall score. Other criteria included language and style, instructional design, technical quality, social and cultural considerations and gender sensitivity.
Beyond eliminating weak textbooks, the exercise could provide schools and teachers with a more reliable basis for selecting instructional materials, while giving publishers measurable standards against which their books can be improved. The Federal Government said publishers whose books fall below the benchmark would have the opportunity to correct identified shortcomings and submit them for reassessment.
NERDC Executive Secretary, Prof. Salisu Shehu, said the assessment involved subject specialists, education experts and officials of the council, with peer review incorporated into the process to strengthen the credibility of the outcome.
The exercise will be implemented in three cycles covering the entire basic and senior secondary school curriculum, beginning with Primary 1 and 4, JSS 1 and SS 1, followed by Primary 2 and 5, JSS 2 and SS 2, before the final cycle covering Primary 3 and 6, JSS 3 and SS 3.
The government is also linking the textbook reform to a broader review of the education system, announcing that the national curriculum will henceforth be reviewed every three years to keep it responsive to technological advances, changing societal needs and emerging educational demands.
With curriculum development and textbook assessment now being tied more closely together, the policy has the potential to improve the consistency between what government prescribes in the curriculum, what teachers teach and what pupils encounter in their textbooks.
For an education system grappling with learning gaps and concerns over the quality of basic education, the significance of the policy therefore extends beyond the publishing industry. Its real test will be whether the new standards translate into better instructional materials, stronger classroom teaching and improved learning outcomes for Nigerian children.
