…technology no longer optional, Education Minister, Alausa declares

By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on Tuesday declared that Nigeria has reached a defining moment where technology must become the backbone of classroom teaching, warning that the country cannot defeat its alarming learning crisis by relying on outdated, paper-based education systems.

Speaking at the Federal Ministry of Education/Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC Roundtable Convening Meeting on Digital Resources Availability to Achieving Learning Outcomes in Abuja, Alausa painted a grim picture of Nigeria’s education sector, revealing that about 42 million Nigerian children are trapped in learning poverty, with three out of every four pupils unable to attain minimum learning proficiency.

Describing the figures as “bad” and unacceptable, the minister said the Federal Government was deploying an array of digital learning platforms to reverse the trend and bridge the country’s widening teacher gap.

“We don’t have a choice anymore. Technology is no longer optional in education. It is the only sustainable pathway to improving learning outcomes,” Alausa declared.

He urged state commissioners for education and chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards, SUBEBs, to immediately integrate the Federal Government’s digital platforms into schools, stressing that the resources, already available online at no cost, remain grossly underutilised.

According to him, the Federal Government has developed virtual classrooms featuring lessons delivered by some of the country’s best teachers in Mathematics, English, Chemistry, Physics and other core subjects, allowing schools suffering acute teacher shortages to connect students to quality instruction in real time.

“This is not about replacing teachers. It is about supporting them. Across the world, there is a shortage of teachers, and technology allows students in the most remote communities to access lessons from highly qualified educators while interacting with them live,” he said.

Alausa explained that schools lacking subject teachers could simply adjust their timetables and connect learners to online classes, enabling students to ask questions and receive immediate feedback without disrupting academic activities.
He lamented that despite huge government investments in digital education infrastructure, utilisation remains disappointingly low.

Citing the UNICEF-supported Learning Passport, the minister said only about 2.3 million learners currently use the platform despite Nigeria having roughly 67 million pupils in primary and secondary schools.

“We have built these platforms. They are available. But if nobody uses them, they become meaningless. You must drive adoption in your states,” he charged.

The minister recalled how the Learning Passport ensured uninterrupted education for students affected by insecurity and school closures, allowing them to continue learning from home using the nationally approved curriculum.

Beyond improving students’ performance, Alausa said the digital platforms also provide continuous professional development opportunities for teachers, helping them acquire modern teaching competencies.

He disclosed that UBEC is expanding digital resource centres across schools nationwide by equipping classrooms with solar-powered facilities and computers while collaborating with state governments to deepen access to digital learning.

The minister also announced that the Basic Education Action Plan has now been fully digitised, replacing the cumbersome paper-based process with an online submission and monitoring dashboard that enables real-time tracking of education projects across the country.

“We are in the education sector. If any sector should lead in embracing technology, it should be education,” he said.

Alausa further revealed that Nigeria has resumed nationwide learning assessments after several years, noting that the exercise would now be conducted every three years to generate reliable data for policy decisions and monitor progress in reducing learning poverty.

He called on education administrators to redesign schools around digital learning, arguing that every institution does not require hundreds of computers, as students can effectively rotate through digital resource centres while maximising available facilities.

The minister also urged state governments to exploit Nigeria’s expanding internet and telecommunications coverage to deliver quality education to underserved communities, insisting that digital learning resources are already accessible across much of the country.

Appealing to education stakeholders to embrace the reforms, Alausa said the Federal Government had deliberately developed the digital platforms to ease the financial burden on states while improving access to quality education.

“We have invested enormous time, effort and resources into these platforms. They will strengthen teaching, reduce dependence on expensive textbooks, improve teacher quality and give every Nigerian child, regardless of location, access to quality learning,” he said.

The roundtable featured demonstrations of the Federal Ministry of Education’s digital learning platforms, UBEC’s digital resource initiatives and the newly launched online Basic Education Action Plan, all aimed at accelerating Nigeria’s transition to technology-driven basic education.