Tinubu’s Education Reforms Disburse ₦372.62bn in Student Loans, Enrol 156,446 in TVET

President Bola Tinubu’s education reforms have expanded access to learning, strengthened teachers’ welfare and stabilised the academic calendar in tertiary institutions, according to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council.

The council said the administration had disbursed ₦372.62 billion in student loans through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), while 156,446 verified trainees had benefited from the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme.

The achievements were contained in the Federal Ministry of Education’s Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) 2026 report, which outlined government interventions across basic, secondary, technical and tertiary education.

In a statement issued on November 4, 2026, and signed by the APC Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson, Dele Alake, the council said the reforms were focused on six priority areas, including technical and vocational education, science and medical sciences, out-of-school children, girl-child education, digitalisation and education quality assurance.

According to the report, the Federal Government allocated ₦3.52 trillion to education in the 2026 budget and secured $552 million for the HOPE-EDU programme, targeting 29 million children, more than 500,000 teachers and 65,000 public schools.

The council said the BESDA programme had returned over one million out-of-school children to learning, trained 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and established 200 bilingual centres across 17 northern states.

It added that the AGILE programme had reached 7.19 million girls, with 3.7 million enrolled in secondary schools, while more than 10,000 schools had benefited from improved facilities.

On teacher development, the report highlighted the introduction of a revised national curriculum that reintroduces Nigerian History and strengthens Civic and Heritage Studies, alongside the restoration of the National Learning Assessment to monitor pupils’ performance.

Under the EduRevamp initiative, 53,553 teachers registered, while 51,794 participated in the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway, a six-month programme designed to provide professional qualifications, certification and licensing.

The programme, backed by ₦2 billion, targets 250,000 teachers by 2027. The administration also introduced Inspire Live, an online learning initiative providing lessons from Primary One to Senior Secondary School Three, supported by certified teachers and artificial intelligence-assisted learning.

The TVET programme, according to the council, attracted more than 2.8 million applications, with 156,446 verified trainees receiving free training, monthly stipends and start-up support.

It said over ₦65.7 billion had been disbursed to trainees, while ₦30.2 billion was provided to training centres. The government also rehabilitated 38 technical colleges and introduced free technical education covering tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.

NELFUND, described as a flagship education intervention, processed 1,659,853 student loan applications and disbursed ₦372.62 billion across 319 tertiary institutions. The amount comprised ₦192.89 billion for tuition and ₦179.73 billion for students’ upkeep allowances.

The council further said the administration had resolved the longstanding dispute between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and implemented an agreement providing a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and improved welfare benefits.

It added that the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund had disbursed ₦28 billion to 15,000 workers across 153 public institutions, providing eligible staff with loans of up to ₦10 million for housing, healthcare, transportation and education.

In medical and science education, the Federal Government is investing ₦110 billion to rehabilitate 18 federal medical schools, while nursing enrolment increased from 81,480 in 2023 to 114,300 in 2025.

The report also highlighted the approval of 20 STEM-focused tertiary institutions and plans to rehabilitate 12 engineering and technology faculties.

On research and entrepreneurship, the council said the government had provided ₦365 million annually for research and innovation through the National Laureate Prize, while the Student Venture Capital Grant had disbursed over ₦2.5 billion to 45 student entrepreneurs.

Each beneficiary, it said, could access up to ₦50 million in equity-free funding, while entrepreneurship certification was ongoing in 14 federal universities.

The Diaspora BRIDGE initiative had also registered 1,141 Nigerian experts abroad and reached 16,675 students across 107 tertiary institutions.

Speaking on the achievements, Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the success of the reforms would be determined by their impact on students, teachers and institutions rather than the amount of money allocated or the number of programmes introduced.

“Our measure of success is not merely the amount of money allocated to education or the number of programmes introduced. It is the difference these interventions make in the lives of our children, students, teachers and institutions,” Alausa said.

The APC Presidential Campaign Council said the reforms reflected the Tinubu administration’s commitment to improving access to education, strengthening institutional capacity and expanding opportunities for Nigerian students and young people.