The Federal Government has inaugurated a Book Ranking and Selection Committee as part of efforts to improve the quality, standardisation and affordability of textbooks used across Nigerian schools.
The initiative is designed to reform the country’s textbook approval process, which authorities say has long suffered from weak quality control, absence of clear benchmarks and rising financial pressure on parents.
Speaking at the inauguration in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said the existing system failed to properly validate and rank textbooks before approval, leading to situations where a single subject could have as many as 50 approved titles without defined quality standards.
According to him, the lack of a structured ranking framework allowed low-quality instructional materials to be approved alongside books with stronger pedagogical value, ultimately affecting teaching and learning outcomes.
Alausa also faulted publishers for bundling workbooks and other consumables with core textbooks, a practice he said compels parents to buy new books every year and places unnecessary financial strain on families.
He explained that the newly inaugurated committee would introduce reforms to cap the number of approved textbooks per subject, establish transparent and objective ranking criteria, and protect learners and parents from exploitative practices.
“Your assignment is both timely and strategic,” the minister said. “You are expected to critically review existing approval frameworks, recommend strengthened assessment and ranking systems, define clear and enforceable quality benchmarks, and propose mechanisms that ensure genuine content improvement before new editions are approved.”
He added that while regulatory agencies may approve several textbooks, only seven per subject would be officially ranked for selection by schools, particularly under the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) framework. Once ranked, textbooks would remain in use for a minimum of three years, except where major curriculum or technological changes require updates.
The minister further directed the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to widely publicise the reforms to reassure parents, schools and other stakeholders.
The committee is to be chaired by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, and comprises representatives from major education agencies, including NERDC, UBEC, the National Teachers’ Institute and the National Senior Secondary Education Commission.
In her remarks, Ahmad pledged the committee’s commitment to overhauling the textbook approval process to ensure learners have access to high-quality instructional materials.
“At the moment, once a textbook meets the minimum standard, it is approved without any benchmark to determine whether it is grade A, B or C quality,” she said.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof. Salisu Shehu, said the initiative would eliminate arbitrary book selection in schools and ensure that only the best instructional materials are adopted nationwide.
He noted that the reforms would strengthen accountability in publishing and promote consistency in teaching resources across Nigeria’s education system.
