The federal government has introduced a national textbook ranking system for primary, junior and senior secondary schools nationwide as part of efforts to strengthen quality assurance and standardisation in the education sector.

Education minister Tunji Alausa disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

Mr Alausa said the initiative would address the proliferation of textbooks in schools and ensure that only high-quality, curriculum-compliant learning materials were approved for classroom use.

The minister explained that under the new system, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council would retain its statutory responsibility for approving textbooks for Nigerian schools.

Beyond approval, Mr Alausa said textbooks would now undergo a structured national evaluation process, with NERDC rankings, to determine the most suitable and highest-quality options for each subject and level of education.

He added that NERDC would establish Standing Subject Committees made up of experts in relevant disciplines to conduct rigorous reviews of textbooks submitted by publishers.

He noted that the committees would assess the materials based on clearly defined academic and pedagogical standards before ranking and approving a limited number of textbooks for classroom use.

According to Mr Alausa, the reform is expected to reduce the excessive number of textbooks currently in circulation, which has often caused confusion among teachers, students, and parents.

“The ranking system will introduce transparency, order and quality assurance into the textbook approval process while aligning Nigeria’s education system with international best practices in instructional material standardisation,” he said.

Mr Alausa added that any textbook not ranked under the new system would no longer be permitted for use in Nigerian schools, regardless of prior licensing status.

He said the federal government would engage teachers and other stakeholders to ensure adequate awareness and compliance with the new policy framework.

Mr Alausa said the implementation of the new ranking system would start with the September academic session, following the establishment of the Standing Subject Committees and the completion of the evaluation framework. 

(NAN)