Financing for equity in primary and secondary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to schools
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
In Nigeria, education financing and management operate under a largely decentralised system. Primary and secondary education are funded and managed across the three tiers of government. The federal government coordinates national education policies and allocates resources through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). State Ministries of Education implement these policies at the state level, while State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) manage state-level education funds and oversee the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme. Local Government Education Authorities are responsible for the provision and financing of primary schools, supplemented by UBE and state subventions. The UBE fund serves as the key source of financing for primary education.
Intergovernmental transfer mechanisms include the UBEC for primary education, administered by the federal government. The federal government also coordinates programmes to increase equitable access to education for hard-to-reach children—including Almajiri children, girls, children with special needs, and nomadic children—through UBEC and other national commissions focused on nomadic education, Almajiri and out-of-school children, and mass literacy, adult, and non-formal education.
The Nigeria Governors' Forum (2024, p. 47) outlines how education funds move from their sources to schools, reflecting shared responsibility across government levels.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
Universal Basic Education (UBE)
Since 2005, the federal government allocates financial resources to states for basic education through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), with funds then distributed from UBEC to State Universal Basic Education Commissions (SUBECs) and Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) for the implementation of basic education programmes and infrastructure development. This includes free tuition, textbooks and classroom facilities for early childhood education (ages 3-5), primary (ages 6-11) and lower secondary (ages 12-14). UBEC is an independent federal government agency (parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Education) responsible for managing and disbursing funds for primary and lower secondary education across the country. It receives funds from the federal government at 2% of the federal government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund.
For a state to qualify for the federal government UBE grant, it must contribute at least 50% of the total cost of projects as its commitment to the execution of the project. Matching grants (50% of the 2% Consolidated Revenue Fund) are contributed by both federal and state governments, on an equal basis. Besides the matching grant (50%), UBEC funds are distributed to states based on a revenue sharing formula for instructional materials (15%), addressing educational imbalances within and across states (14%), teacher professional development (10%), good performance (5%), education of students with disabilities (2%), monitoring UBE programmes (2%), and implementation (2%). The funding for addressing educational imbalance across states aims to support communities in educationally disadvantaged areas. UBEC matching grants are tied to each basic educational level according to the following sharing formula: primary education (60%), lower secondary (30%) and early childhood (5%). These grants fluctuate a lot each year.
Universal Primary Education (UPE)
Before the establishment of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in 2004 and the launch of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme in 1999, education funding in Nigeria primarily relied on less coordinated mechanisms. The Universal Primary Education (UPE) initiatives, launched in the mid-1970s, aimed to provide free primary education but did not include systematic equity-focused transfers.
2. Education resources to schools
Equity-oriented government school funding arrangements vary across states according to their individual priorities. State governments are responsible for implementing and allocating the universal basic education grant, with allocations determined based on each state’s priority basic education needs and annual action plans submitted by the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs). Education funding in states is guided by sector plans and budget documents, which inform resource allocation decisions.
Integrated, Qur’anic and Tsangaya Education (IQTE)
The Integrated, Qur’anic and Tsangaya Education (IQTE) programme is a federal initiative to increase access to education for Almajiri and other out-of-school children in Nigeria. Managed under UBEC, it supports the establishment of integrated Islamiyah schools and provides grants to improve infrastructure and learning materials. The National Almajiri Education Programme, launched in 2010, opened the first integrated Almajiri school in 2012, providing facilities and instructional resources for Qur’anic and Islamic schools. The National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children, established in 2023, coordinates policy and federal funding, aiming to integrate Almajiri schools into the formal education system, reduce out-of-school children by 25% annually, and return 20 million children to school by 2027.
State governments implement the initiative with dedicated budgets and agencies. In Kebbi State, which has the highest number of out-of-school children, the government focuses on integrating non-formal learning approaches and expanding learning centres. The 2024 Kebbi State Medium-Term Basic Education Strategic Plan continues to prioritise funding for these centres to further reduce enrolment gaps. Jigawa State similarly established the Tsangaya Education Agency, providing dedicated funding to reduce out-of-school children and ensuring that both state-established and federally taken-over Model Tsangaya schools operate at full enrolment. Federal and state-level interventions are coordinated to enhance infrastructure, instructional quality, and school attendance among Almajiri and other vulnerable children.
Nomadic Education
Federal and state governments provide funding to increase access to education for nomadic pastoralists, migrant fisherfolk, and migrant farmers, who make up a substantial portion of Nigeria’s out-of-school population. The National Commission for Nomadic Education, funded through federal budget appropriations, supports the improvement of nomadic education by providing instructional materials, equipment, and constructing classrooms and other facilities across states. In 2022, federal funding was used for capital expenses such as the construction of nomadic classrooms and schools, the establishment of a dedicated radio station to serve as a radio school for nomads, development of curriculum guidelines, and capacity-building workshops for teachers. Several states, including Jigawa, Sokoto, and Bauchi, also allocate specific budgets and maintain dedicated state entities to manage and implement nomadic education programmes.
Girls’ Education
In Kano State, which has the largest population and school enrolment in Nigeria, the budget prioritises girls’ education through the Girls Education Project. Funding is allocated to enhance inclusive education for girls with disabilities, provide and maintain shuttle buses for girls, deliver training in menstrual hygiene management, and monitor girls’ education programmes. These initiatives are guided by the 2009–2018 Kano State Education Strategic Plan and the 2020–2025 Kano State Development Plan, both of which aim to reduce gender disparities in basic education, particularly in rural areas.
A similar focus on girls’ education is reflected in the budgets of Kaduna and Jigawa States. In Jigawa, the programme receives dedicated funding within the state’s education budget, although it does not constitute the largest share of equitable funding allocations.
Special Education
In addition to the 2% special education fund disbursed to states, UBEC has provided direct funding since 2022 to public and private special schools to support the provision of assistive technologies. UBEC has also developed a framework to guide the implementation of special education programmes at the state level. States themselves allocate funds for special education within their budgets, often representing a substantial share of education spending. In 2024, Kaduna State directed most of its financing for basic education towards special education, while Kebbi State also allocated a significant portion of its education budget to support students with special needs.
3. Education resources to students and families
Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students
Several states provide scholarships to disadvantaged students to improve access to secondary and higher education. The 2024–2027 Roadmap for the Nigerian Education Sector includes an objective to provide special bursaries and scholarships to high-performing girls in basic and senior schools, targeting 5,000 female students annually. In Kano State, the Kano State Scholarship Board administers scholarships for disadvantaged students, including girls and poor boys, at both upper secondary and higher education levels, with dedicated budget allocations for each level. Kaduna State similarly provides scholarships at the secondary and tertiary levels.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
In Care of the People (COPE) Conditional Cash Transfer Programme
Nigeria launched its first nationwide conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme, the In Care of the People (COPE) CCT programme, in 2007 to reduce vulnerability among the poorest households and alleviate intergenerational poverty. Cash transfers were provided on the condition that households ensured their children maintained at least 80% school attendance and received regular immunisations and healthcare visits.
The programme initially operated in 12 states between 2007 and 2008 and later became compulsory for all states. Beneficiary households were selected based on low human development indicators, including low girl-child school enrolment and adult literacy rates, and typically included households headed by women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, or those with children up to junior secondary school age. Funding came from the MDG Debt Relief Fund, Nigerian government allocations, and technical support from the World Bank. COPE was discontinued in 2016 and replaced by the national CCT programme, now overseen by the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office at the federal level.
National Cash Transfer Programme
In 2016, Nigeria established the National Cash Transfer Programme, also known as the Household Uplifting Programme, as part of the National Social Investment Programmes. The programme replaced COPE and currently operates in all 36 states. It is financed by the federal government with support from the World Bank, and implemented at the state level through the State Cash Transfer Units. Households receive a base unconditional cash transfer, with additional conditional top-ups provided for school attendance, requiring children to be enrolled in public schools. The programme targets extremely poor and vulnerable households identified through a combination of geographic and community-based targeting, with household socio-economic data assessed using Proxy Means Testing to determine eligibility from the National Social Register. Beneficiaries participate for three years, a longer duration than the one-year limit under COPE, and all poor households are registered nationally based on a poverty mapping exercise.
Several subnational and donor-supported CCTs also operate across Nigeria. The Kano State government implemented a pilot CCT from 2010 to 2012 to increase female school attendance. Bauchi and Katsina States ran three-year pilot programmes between 2011 and 2014 to reduce girls’ dropout due to early marriage during the transition from primary to secondary school, with cash transfers provided regularly to beneficiaries. Similar CCT initiatives have also been launched in Bayelsa and Jigawa States.
5. School meal programmes
The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme
The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme is implemented by the National Social Investment Programmes Agency at the federal level as part of the National Social Investment Programmes. It provides daily school meals to public primary school students using locally grown farm produce. The programme was initially established in 2005 in 12 states across the six geopolitical zones, suspended in 2007 due to planning and resource challenges, and officially reintroduced in 2016. It currently operates in 22 of the 36 states.
Targeting is focused on public primary schools for grades 1 to 3, which are primarily attended by children from low-income households, making poverty, vulnerability, and food insecurity the implicit criteria for participation. State selection during the planning phase was informed by the Multidimensional Poverty Index. The federal government fully funds the programme, which adheres to national nutrition guidelines endorsed by multi-sector partners, with ongoing objectives to expand coverage and double the number of children receiving meals in the near future.
