The Federal Government has launched a digital education initiative to provide millions of senior secondary and tertiary students with zero-rated access to approved educational platforms and learning content.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, launched the Initiative for Zero-Rated Access to Educational Platforms and Content in Nigeria, describing it as a major step towards removing the cost of internet connectivity as a barrier to education.
This was contained in a statement released on Thursday by the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Ikharo Attah.
According to the statement, the Minister said the initiative, implemented under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, would help ensure that poverty, location and the cost of data do not determine Nigerians’ access to quality education.
Alausa said the intervention would particularly benefit learners from low-income households and communities where access to conventional educational infrastructure remains limited.
According to him, a mobile phone, tablet or computer could serve as a classroom, library and gateway to opportunities when the cost of connectivity is removed.
The Minister said the initiative forms part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to transform the education sector through the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), with digitalisation and data infrastructure at the centre of the reform.
He said the Ministry was strengthening education planning and service delivery through the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure, Digital Nigeria Education Management Information System and Learner Identification Number.
Alausa, however, stressed that the success of digital transformation would ultimately be measured by its ability to reach learners and improve the quality of education.
He also disclosed plans to introduce regulated internet access for children below 16 years as part of measures to protect them from cyberattacks and other forms of online harm.
The Minister noted that telecommunications and internet connectivity had become increasingly important to education, describing access to connectivity as almost as essential to learning as classrooms, textbooks and laboratories.
He called for stronger collaboration among the Federal Ministry of Education, state governments, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), telecommunications operators, technology companies, development partners, educational institutions and teachers to make digital education accessible, safe and relevant.
Alausa said Nigeria must move beyond producing young people who only consume technology to developing a generation capable of creating technology, innovating, solving problems and competing globally.
In his goodwill message, Chairman of the House Committee on Communications, Hon. 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 supporting policies and legislation that use technology to bridge the education gap, particularly for learners in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
Similarly, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, called for measures to ensure that no Nigerian child is excluded from access to knowledge and educational opportunities.
Dandutse also commended the telecommunications industry for its contributions towards expanding access to learning, including through corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Alausa assured that the Ministry would continue to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the zero-rating initiative translates into sustainable benefits for Nigerian learners.
