Education, Digital Economy Ministries Pledge Inclusive Digital Ecosystem for Basic Teaching, Learning

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The Federal Ministry of Education and that of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy are collaborating to develop a national edtech strategy that would ensure an inclusive digital education ecosystem to transform teaching and learning across the country.

At the Mid-term Co-creation Workshop in Abuja, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and the World Bank Group, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said Nigeria could not continue delivering knowledge through outdated frameworks while preparing children for a digital global economy.

“Doing nothing, or doing what we did before, is a total failure. We must embrace technology in how we deliver content to students, how we train teachers, how classrooms operate, and how learning materials are accessed,” he said.

He noted that hundreds of smart schools and digital teaching platforms were already being deployed and announced that within the next four months, every classroom in federal government-owned secondary schools would have a smart board, with full internet access embedded as part of the infrastructure.

Acknowledging that many teachers cannot afford data to access digital content, Dr. Alausa explained that the government was working on zero-rated data access to ensure that teachers can log into digital training platforms at no cost.

He maintained that a structured compensation mechanism would begin by January to reward teachers who engage in verified online professional development training.

The Minister of Education said Nigeria was also implementing online, real-time subject instruction for junior secondary students, using master teachers to provide interactive virtual lessons accessible to both public and private schools.

On his part, the Minister of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, stressed that modern economies could only expand with a digitally empowered education system.

According to Dr Tijani, technology was not just a simple tool but an ecosystem involving content creators, educators, engineers, telecom providers, investors, device manufacturers, maintenance technicians, and regulators.

“If we don’t have a unified strategy, technology becomes something we spend money on but never derive value from,” Tijani warned.

On ensuring digital inclusion reaches the remote and underserved communities, the minister said plans were underway to install 4,000 telecommunications towers in rural regions, targeting over 20 million Nigerians currently without connectivity.

He said these towers would connect to a nationwide fiber-optic backbone, reducing data costs and increasing connection speeds.

He also disclosed negotiations to lower the cost of smart devices, including local manufacturing options leveraging Nigeria’s lithium deposits for battery production.

Both ministers agreed that past interventions by the Nigerian Communications Commission, Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), and others were meaningful but fragmented.

Dr. Alausa said this problem was being solved through the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure, which would enable a unified education data system, communication between platforms, integrated student-teacher learning records, and national-level planning and monitoring.

The workshop is expected to produce an actionable blueprint for EdTech interoperability, teacher training, digital inclusion, and real-time content delivery across Nigeria.