.Reject N2,000 per page assessment fee

By Adesina Wahab

Publishers under the auspices of the Nigerian Publishers Association, NPA, have faulted Federal Ministry of Education over the proposal to start ranking educational textbooks, saying it will create a “winner takes all” situation that will send many publishers out of business.
Also, the association has rejected the increment in the assessment fee from N300 per page to N2,000 per page.
NPA opined that the hike in the fee will make publishing textbooks not only expensive, but that it will lead to scarcity of books and deny many pupils and students access to such books.
Briefing newsmen in Ikeja, Lagos yesterday, the National President of the NPA, Mr Lukman Dauda, noted that the situation would simply aggravate the dire situation the publishing industry is, and throw many people into unemployment.
“On 27 April, 2026, the Federal Ministry of Education, through the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), issued a press release announcing a new policy direction aimed at standardising textbook selection and improving learning outcomes across Nigeria.
“The policy was presented as a means of ensuring that learners have access to accurate, relevant, and affordable educational materials. However, the central feature of the policy is the ranking of educational textbooks intended for use in basic and secondary schools across Nigeria.
“Having carefully studied the proposal, the Nigerian Publishers Association issued a public statement on 28 April 2026 rejecting the policy and calling for its immediate withdrawal. Our position was based on clear, objective, and verifiable concerns about the policy’s implications for education, competition, publishing, and constitutional governance.*
Dauda added that the association took objection to the new policy and submitted that the Council could strengthen the existing evaluation system rather than introduce ranking.
*The current system of textbook evaluation and assessment conducted by NERDC has, over the years, provided a transparent and objective process that offers a level playing field for all publishers. If weaknesses exist, such weaknesses should be corrected by strengthening the existing evaluation framework rather than replacing it with a ranking system.”
NPA noted that the ranking system could work in small nations and not Nigeria, with over 60 million pupils and students as well as over 200 publishing houses.
“Educational publishers are still struggling to align instructional materials with the new curriculum introduced barely seven months ago. The curriculum guidelines are still being rolled out by NERDC while the curricula for some subjects have not even been released to enable publishers to start work on their development. There was virtually no transition period provided before implementation commenced.
“Introducing a ranking system at this stage would unfairly disadvantage many publishers who are still adapting their materials to the new curriculum requirements.
“In addition to the choky timeline for implementation, the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with NERDC, has turned the policy into a money-making venture! Or how does one explain the deceit enshrined in the much publicised advocacy for affordable books to parents when the ministry is set to charge N2,000 per page for each subject for assessment and N1,000,000 per subject for the so-called ranking? For clarity purposes, the new curricular contains:
“For Basic Education – 51 subjects, making 102 books with workbooks. For Senior Secondary – 37 subjects. At an average of 200 and 85 pages per subject for textbooks and workbooks, respectively, at the basic level, and an average of 250 pages per subject at the senior secondary level, a publisher, who is desirous of providing all subjects, will be made to pay:
“For Basic Education subjects: 51 subjects x 285 pages x N2,000 = N29,070,000. For Senior Secondary: 37 subjects x 250 pages x N2,000.= N18,500,000. This amounts to a whopping total of N47,570,000. Only for book assessment. And for Ranking: 88 subjects x N1,000,000 = N88,000,000. Total for Assessment and Ranking = N135,570,000
How will such charges bring down the cost of books and make them affordable to parents? “We urge the Federal Ministry of Education to come out clean on the real intentions behind this unpopular experiment and save the industry players the stress of arguing a seemingly concluded deal with cronies. As it stands, the integrity and transparency of the process are in doubt. Why would a reform that is genuinely targeted at quality, accessible, and affordable education design the process only for the highest bidder? The whole process smacks of deceit shrouded in the cloak of educational reforms.
“The Nigerian Publishers Association wishes to alert parents, teachers, school proprietors, policymakers, and the general public to the dangers inherent in this policy. The future of Nigerian children must not become the subject of policy experimentation, political expediency, or self-serving interests disguised as educational reform by the Federal Ministry of Education. Publishers have continued to make enormous sacrifices to ensure that quality and affordable educational materials remain available and affordable to Nigerian students. This can be strengthened to improve the quality of books instead of disrupting the sector.
“The real issues affecting book pricing to final users often arise after books leave the publishers and enter distribution channels.
Despite rising production costs, publishers have consistently exercised restraint in passing additional costs to students and parents.”
The NPA appealed to the government to reconsider the matter in the interest of the education of Nigerian children.