The Nigerian Government has removed data costs for millions of learners in senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions seeking access to approved educational platforms.
The initiative, launched by the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Alausa, is part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is aimed at making digital learning more accessible to Nigerian students.
Speaking at the launch of the Initiative for Zero-Rated Access to Educational Platforms and Content in Nigeria, Alausa described the intervention as a major step towards ensuring that poverty, location and the cost of internet connectivity do not determine access to quality education.
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He also announced plans for regulated internet access for children below the age of 16 as part of measures to strengthen online child protection.
“The initiative goes beyond connectivity. It is about putting learning within reach of children who may otherwise be unable to afford the data required to access it.
“A mobile phone, tablet or computer could become a classroom, library and gateway to opportunity when cost is no longer a barrier, particularly for learners from low-income households and communities where access to conventional educational infrastructure remains limited,” he said.
Alausa explained that the intervention formed part of the broader transformation of Nigeria’s education sector through the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), with data and digitalisation at its core.
He said the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure, Digital Nigeria Education Management Information System and Learner Identification Number were strengthening the way education was planned, managed and delivered.
The Minister, however, stressed that the real measure of digital transformation would be its ability to reach learners and improve the quality of education.
Alausa also placed the wellbeing and dignity of Nigerian children at the centre of the country’s digital education drive.
He said President Tinubu’s commitment to the welfare of every Nigerian child required government and stakeholders to remain vigilant against threats in the digital environment, including cyberattacks and other forms of online harm.
Regulated Internet Access
He disclosed that regulated internet access would eventually be introduced for children below the age of 16 as part of measures to strengthen online child protection.
The Minister also highlighted the growing role of the telecommunications industry in education, noting that connectivity was increasingly becoming as essential to learning as classrooms, textbooks and laboratories.
He called for sustained collaboration among the Ministry, State Governments, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), telecommunications operators, technology companies, development partners, educational institutions and teachers to ensure that digital education remained accessible, safe and relevant.
Alausa said Nigeria must move beyond producing young people who merely consume technology to developing a generation capable of creating technology, innovating, solving problems and competing globally.
He assured that the Federal Ministry of Education would continue to work closely with the NCC, State Governments, telecommunications operators, educational institutions, development partners and other stakeholders to ensure that the initiative delivers lasting benefits to Nigerian learners.
The Minister reaffirmed his commitment to advancing President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in education by breaking barriers to learning, expanding opportunities and harnessing technology to build an education system where geography does not determine a child’s future and poverty does not prevent access to knowledge.
The Chairman, House Committee on Communications, Mr Peter Akpatason, commended the NCC for the initiative, describing the high cost of data as one of the major barriers to learning in the digital age.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the House of Representatives to policies and legislative measures that leverage technology to bridge the education gap, particularly for learners in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Senator Mohammed Dandutse, stressed the need to ensure that no Nigerian child was left behind in accessing knowledge and educational opportunities.
He commended the telecommunications industry for its contributions, including through corporate social responsibility initiatives that support children and expand access to learning.
Dandutse noted that access to knowledge remained fundamental to Nigeria’s progress.
