Nigerian govt strengthening school security with technology – Minister

The Nigerian government has begun strengthening school security by deploying technology to protect pupils from unsafe learning environments.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during an interview on ARISE Television on Sunday.

Two months ago, Nigeria witnessed two mass abductions of pupils within the same week, raising fears for pupils ‘ safety.

On 17 November 2025, armed bandits stormed the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School (GGCSS) in Maga, Kebbi State, and abducted 25 students. In the process, the bandits killed the vice principal of the school.

Days later, on 21 November 2025, another group of bandits attacked the Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, in Agwara Local Government Area (LGA) of neighbouring Niger state. There, over 200 pupils were kidnapped. The government secured the release of the pupils after weeks in captivity.

The renewed fears forced several state governments to shut the schools in their domain for weeks. The federal government also shut down 41 unity colleges amid fears of attacks. 

However, speaking during the interview, Mr Alausa said all schools in the country had been geo-mapped and geo-tagged to improve security coordination.

“If there is any incident, there will be a panic alert that goes to a local control centre,” the minister said, adding that the government is working with security agencies to improve response time.

Mr Alausa also said the current government is introducing reforms designed to deliver sustainable improvements in basic education.

He added that the government rehabilitated almost 10,000 schools last year.

The minister also defended other federal government policies affecting primary and secondary schools, saying the measures are intended to reduce the cost of education for parents and improve learning outcomes.

Mr Alausa also addressed controversies surrounding nursery school graduation ceremonies, textbook reuse, language of instruction, education financing and school safety.

Nursery graduations ‘sheer exploitation’

The minister said graduation ceremonies for nursery and kindergarten pupils had turned into a tool for exploiting parents, insisting that such practices had no educational value.

“It might be fun for you, but it is sheer extortion of parents. Why would you do graduation for nursery one or nursery two?” he asked.

He said graduations should be tied to clear educational milestones, such as completing primary or senior secondary school, rather than to early childhood classes.

Textbook reuse and publishers

Mr Alausa said the government directed schools to stop forcing parents to buy new textbooks every year, describing the practice as another form of extortion.

He said workbooks must now be separated from textbooks and that textbooks should not be replaced for at least three years unless there is a material change in content.

“Publishers manipulated the process by introducing workbooks so students would write inside textbooks and parents would be forced to buy new ones every year,” he said.

History, indigenous language

The minister also clarified that the current administration did not remove history from the curriculum.

“History was banned about 12 or 13 years ago,” he said. “This president mandated a full curriculum review, and Nigerian history is back.”

Speaking on indigenous language policy, he denied claims that the government banned indigenous languages in schools.

Mr Alausa explained that the policy only corrected what he described as over-implementation of mother-tongue instruction in some regions, where local languages were used beyond the approved primary level.

“Mother tongue was meant to be used up to Primary 3,” he said. “In some places, it was used up to SS3, yet national exams are conducted in English.”

He said English would remain the language of instruction to ensure standardisation and global competitiveness, while indigenous languages would continue to be taught as subjects.

Out-of-school children, education funding

Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children globally, a challenge the minister said the government was addressing through increased funding and targeted interventions.

Mr Alausa said the education sector had received its highest budgetary allocation in the last two years, adding that funding for basic education agencies had increased.

He also defended the student loan scheme administered by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), dismissing claims of widespread delays and adding that it had removed financial barriers to tertiary education.

“Today, no student can say they cannot go to school because of money,” he said, adding that about 800,000 students were benefiting from the scheme.