UK-funded Education Programme, PLANE Closes After Reaching 2m Nigerian Children

• As five northern states vow to sustain programme education reforms

•Partners face test of sustaining learning gains as £-backed initiative ends after seven years

Michael Olugbode in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna

More than two million Nigerian children have been reached by a United Kingdom-funded education programme that also supported the training of over 25,000 teachers, raising the stakes for federal and state governments to sustain the learning gains following its closure.

The Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE), which worked to improve foundational literacy and numeracy and strengthen education systems across northern Nigeria, formally ended its programme at a close-out event in Kaduna on Wednesday.

Although the UK and its Nigerian partners celebrated the achievements, the central challenge is whether the government can sustain and expand the interventions after the programme’s closure, particularly in communities where children face barriers to quality education.

Meanwhile, in a related development, five northern states have pledged to sustain education reforms introduced under PLANE as the programme came to an end.

The commitment was made by education commissioners from the beneficiary states – Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Borno and Yobe at the programme’s close out in Kaduna.

The programme was funded by the UK and implemented by DAI, UNICEF, Save the Children and consortium partners

Speaking at the event, the commissioners commended PLANE for its contributions to teacher development, access to education and the strengthening of education systems and urged the states to build on the gains recorded under the programme.

On his part, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Pete Vowles, said the programme had demonstrated how collaboration among governments, teachers, communities and development partners could improve children’s access to education and the quality of learning.

“While we are celebrating the achievements of the programme today, the most important question is what happens next,” Vowles said.

He said the UK was encouraged that successful approaches were being adopted and scaled by Nigerian institutions, expressing confidence that the improvements could continue beyond the programme’s lifespan.

“PLANE is closing. The UK’s education partnership with Nigeria is not,” he said.

Funded by the UK and implemented by DAI, UNICEF, Save the Children and consortium partners, PLANE has supported education reform since 2019, working with policymakers and education stakeholders at the federal level and in Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno states.

Its interventions focused on foundational skills, education in emergencies and community-centred initiatives. The programme also supported stronger safeguarding systems to make schools safer for children and generated evidence on approaches capable of improving learning outcomes when implemented at scale.

The closure comes as Nigeria continues to grapple with the challenge of ensuring that children not only enrol in school but also acquire the literacy, numeracy and other foundational skills needed to progress through the education system.

For the governments and institutions involved, the next phase will require sustained funding, stronger implementation capacity and the integration of successful interventions into public education systems.

Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, who represented Governor Uba Sani at the event, acknowledged the UK government, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the British High Commission and the PLANE leadership and implementation teams for their contributions.

She said the programme had worked directly with state officials and communities, including those in remote areas, while strengthening the skills of teachers and public officers.

“You worked in our offices, in our local government areas, and in some of our most remote communities. Often under difficult conditions,” she said.

Balarabe said the programme’s support had helped build capacity over the past seven years, adding that the knowledge and skills acquired would remain with teachers and government officials after its closure.

Head of Development Cooperation at the British High Commission in Nigeria, Cynthia Rowe, said education remained one of the most important investments any country could make in its future.

She said PLANE’s achievements showed what could be accomplished when evidence, innovation and partnerships were aligned around a common objective.

“As the programme closes, we look forward to building on these successes through continued collaboration with government, schools, universities and communities across Nigeria,” Rowe said.

She added that the UK would continue to support opportunities for young Nigerians, from foundational learning in primary schools to higher education and advanced skills development.

As part of the visit, UK representatives also visited the College of Petroleum and Energy Studies in Kaduna, where partnerships between Nigerian institutions and UK universities are helping students develop advanced technical and professional skills.

The partnerships form part of the UK’s wider transnational education agenda, which seeks to strengthen cooperation between Nigerian and British institutions in teaching, research and skills development.

Since 2019, PLANE has worked across federal and state education structures, supporting foundational learning, education in emergencies and community participation in education.

Its reported reach of more than two million children and support for over 25,000 teachers provide a significant measure of its scale. However, the lasting impact will depend on whether the approaches can be maintained, adequately funded and extended to more schools and communities.

The programme’s closure therefore marks not only the end of a development initiative but also a test of institutional ownership: whether the policies, skills and systems developed through external support can continue delivering results under Nigerian leadership.

For millions of children whose futures depend on the quality of their education, the real measure of PLANE’s legacy will be whether better learning continues long after the programme has ended.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abubakar Sani Sambo, said the programme had strengthened the state’s education system through teacher training, learning materials, education policies and improved data systems.

Sambo said more than 6,300 teachers and about 700 head teachers had been trained, while 737,000 learning materials were distributed to schools.

He said 76,125 learners benefited from community-based learning, including 40,958 girls and 4,389 children with disabilities.

According to him, 1,345 adolescents also benefited from life skills clubs, while 2,811 children received support through child protection interventions.

“The seeds sown under PLANE are already bearing fruit,” Sambo said,

He said policies developed under PLANE were helping to integrate education programmes, while improved data systems were supporting planning and decision making.

Sambo also said more than 25,000 out of school children had returned to learning across Kaduna’s 23 local government areas through interventions targeting children who had missed formal schooling.

On his part, the Borno State Commissioner for Education, Abba Wakilbe, said the close out was an opportunity to celebrate PLANE’s achievements and consider the future of education reforms.

“The legacy of PLANE will not be measured by what it has done, but by what we achieve from it afterwards,” he said.

The Yobe State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abba Idris Abba, expressed appreciation for PLANE’s interventions, while the Kano State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Ali Haruna Abubakar Makoda, commended the programme and other education interventions, saying Kano had recorded improved performance in National Examinations Council examinations.

The commissioners stressed the need to preserve PLANE’s gains and ensure that its interventions continued to benefit learners beyond the programme’s lifespan.