No ASUU Strike – APC Defends Tinubu’s Education Reforms

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has defended President Bola Tinubu’s education reforms, citing the stabilisation of academic calendars in tertiary institutions as one of the administration’s achievements.

It said the government reforms had also addressed longstanding challenges in the education sector, including disputes between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

This was communicated in a statement issued on Wednesday by Dele Alake, spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, citing the Federal Ministry of Education’s Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) 2026 report.

According to the party, the administration’s interventions cover basic and secondary education, technical and vocational training, and tertiary education.

It said the reforms were focused on six priority areas including technical and vocational education, science and medical sciences, out-of-school children, girl-child education, digitalisation and education quality assurance.

On basic education funding, the APC said the Federal Government allocated N3.52 trillion to the sector in the 2026 budget and secured $552 million for the HOPE-EDU programme.

The programme is expected to benefit 29 million children, more than 500,000 teachers and 65,000 public schools.

Politics Nigeria reports that the party also said the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme had returned more than one million out-of-school children to classrooms, trained 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and established 200 bilingual centres across 17 northern states.

It added that the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) programme had reached 7.19 million girls, with 3.7 million enrolled in secondary schools, while more than 10,000 schools had benefited from improved facilities.

On curriculum development and teacher training, the APC said the administration had introduced a revised national curriculum that reintroduced Nigerian History and strengthened Civic and Heritage Studies.

It also highlighted the restoration of the National Learning Assessment to monitor pupils’ performance and identify learning gaps.

The party disclosed that 53,553 teachers had registered under the EduRevamp initiative, while 51,794 joined the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP), a six-month programme offering professional qualifications, certification and licensing.

It said the programme, backed by N2 billion, was targeting 250,000 teachers by 2027.

The APC further cited the Inspire Live initiative, which provides online lessons from Primary One to Senior Secondary School Three through certified teachers and AI-assisted learning.

On technical and vocational education, the party said the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme had attracted more than 2.8 million applications, with 156,446 verified trainees receiving free training, monthly stipends and start-up support.

It added that more than N65.7 billion had been disbursed to trainees, while N30.2 billion had gone to training centres.

The government, according to the statement, had also rehabilitated 38 technical colleges and introduced free technical education covering tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.

Politics Nigeria reports that the APC also highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), saying it had processed 1,659,853 student loan applications and disbursed N372.62 billion to beneficiaries across 319 tertiary institutions.

The amount comprises N192.89 billion for tuition and N179.73 billion for upkeep allowances.

On university funding and staff welfare, the party said the Tinubu administration had resolved the longstanding dispute with ASUU and implemented an agreement that provided a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and improved welfare benefits.

It added that the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund had disbursed N28 billion to 15,000 workers across 153 public institutions, offering eligible employees loans of up to N10 million for housing, healthcare, transportation and education.

The party also said the Federal Government was investing N110 billion to rehabilitate 18 federal medical schools across the six geopolitical zones.

It noted that nursing enrolment increased from 81,480 in 2023 to 114,300 in 2025, while 20 STEM-focused tertiary institutions had been approved and 12 engineering and technology faculties targeted for rehabilitation.

On research and innovation, the APC said the government had provided N365 million annually through the National Laureate Prize.

It also disclosed that the Student Venture Capital Grant had disbursed more than N2.5 billion to 45 student entrepreneurs, with each beneficiary eligible for up to N50 million in equity-free funding.

The party added that entrepreneurship certification was ongoing in 14 federal universities, while the Diaspora BRIDGE initiative had registered 1,141 Nigerian experts abroad and reached 16,675 students across 107 tertiary institutions.

Commenting on the reported achievements, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the success of the reforms should be determined by their impact on students, teachers and educational institutions rather than financial allocations or the number of programmes introduced.

“Our measure of success is not merely the amount of money allocated to education or the number of programmes introduced. It is the difference these interventions make in the lives of our children, students, teachers and institutions,” he said.