North Nigeria's Literacy Rates Lowest Despite Donor Funds

During a roundtable session at the Education World Forum in London, Dr. Tunji Alausa disclosed that the North West and North East regions of Nigeria record the lowest literacy and numeracy rates nationwide.

This is despite these regions receiving 80% of Nigeria's educational donor funds over the past ten years. Alausa's statements were part of a discussion on the need for a shift towards evidence-based resource distribution, as highlighted by data from the Nigeria Education Data Initiative (NEDI).

The NEDI data indicates that a significant portion of the donor funds has not translated into improved educational outcomes. To address these issues, Nigeria is restructuring its educational foundation to unify the system and integrate both formal and non-formal education under a single national standard.

This initiative aims to enable real-time monitoring through a national dashboard and is part of Nigeria's reform agenda to significantly reduce learning poverty nationwide.