Foundational skills of reading, writing and mathematics set children on the path to success and lifelong learning. Yet, despite the recommendation by the United Nations that every child should have these skills by the age of 10, almost 90 per cent of children in sub-Saharan Africa are lagging behind. In Nigeria, about 70% of children have difficulty reading or understanding simple text (UNICEF, 2022).

With millions of children out-of-school in Nigeria, many of those currently in school are also not learning as they should. About half of those who attend primary schools, which is constitutionally compulsory and free, do not achieve basic proficiency in literacy and numeracy. In the northern part of the country, the percentage drops even further, with only 10% of 7–14-year-olds in the Northwest and 12% in the Northeast able to read. The learning crisis in Nigeria is fueled by many factors, including overcrowded classrooms, lack of competent teachers, shortage of learning materials in schools, and poor infrastructure. In this paper, we explore how the FCDO-funded Partnership for Learning for All in Nigerian (PLANE) programme is transforming foundational skills education in target states through the adoption of evidence-based instruction and learning materials, ongoing monitoring, and community support.

Learning loss remains a significant challenge in Nigeria, particularly in the northern regions where the academic calendar is frequently disrupted due to factors such as floods, farming seasons and socio-cultural practices. To help children recover lost learning time and provide struggling learners with a chance to catch up outside regular school hours, the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) piloted an Accelerated Learning Holiday Camp in December 2024 in Jigawa, Kaduna and Kano states. At least 11,597 pupils (51 percent being girls) participated in the programme, which was held in 300 camps across the three states. Assessments conducted at the end of the camp showed significant improvement in the abilities of the learners. Download to read more.

Non-state Schools in Nigeria (NSN), also known a independent/private schools, or non-government schools, are educational institutions that are not directly funded or managed by the government. They are typically financed by tuition payments, as well as donations from individuals, businesses, communities, faith-based organisations, and foundations.

The National Policy on Non-State Schools in Nigeria (NPNSN) 2024 was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with state governments, the Non-state Schools Association (NSA), and other stakeholders. It was developed in response to the growing role and challenges of non-state schools in Nigeria (NSNs). The Federal Government, through the Universal Basic Education (UBEC) Act of 2004, is supporting states to improve education at the basic and post-basic levels. The Universal Basic Education (UBE) initiative in Nigeria is designed to enhance education accessibility and quality, essential for national development.

Nigeria faces a critical challenge with out-of-school children (OOSC), with 2023 estimates indicating that 8.9 million primary school-age children and 3.9 million junior secondary school-age children are not attending school.1 While the majority of OOSC are concentrated in the northeast and northwest, numbers are rising in other regions, including the south.2 Despite long-standing recognition of […]

This School Opening (SO) study is the second report of the Human Development Evaluation Learning and Verification Service (DELVe) Technical Assistance and Research workstream on School Opening and Attendance (SOA) for the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) Portfolio programmes, FCDO Nigeria’s flagship education programme. FCDO commissioned this Phase 2 School Opening (SO2) […]

In March 2025, the PLANE programme, in collaboration with the Kaduna State Government, conducted a baseline assessment to evaluate the early grade reading and mathematical skills of learners in selected Tsangaya schools in five (5) intervention LGAs in Kaduna State. The results from a sample size of 25 schools and 250 learners reveal a worrying trend in both Hausa literacy and numeracy. You can download to read the findings and key recommendations captured in an advocacy brief here

In October 2023 and July 2024, PLANE and government partners collected learning outcomes data in Primary 2 and 3 in Kaduna state, using the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Math Assessment (EGMA), with 6 LGAs and 43 schools sampled. Learners improved during the 2023-2024 school year, with children performing higher overall in mathematics. However, children did not quite meet the 50% improvement target set for the year.

Nigerian children are not learning foundational skills – maths, basic reading and writing in Hausa and in English. This lack of basic skills undermines their ability to transition into junior and upper secondary and, subsequently, enter the employment market with the skills and abilities that enable them to maximise their opportunities. In response to this […]

Nigeria faces a learning crisis. Over 10 million primary age children are out of school and of those who are enrolled,as many as 40% do not attend regularly. Teacher shortages, inadequate funding and resourcing, lack of capacityin school monitoring and supervision, as well as leadership challenges compound the profound problem ofequitable access to quality basic […]

From 2017 to 2021 FCDO funded three Education in Emergencies (EiE) programmes in North-East Nigeria under two portfolios: The North-East Transition to Development Programme (NENTAD) during an initial stage and the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria
(PLANE) thereafter. Two programmes were fully funded by FCDO and implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). For the third programme FCDO provided top-up funds for one of the components of USAID’s Addressing Education in Northeast Nigeria (AENN)

The Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) programme, funded by the UK Government’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is supporting state governments in Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa states, to strengthen the quality assurance process in non-state schools, using Graded Assessment tools.