The Federal Government has inaugurated a Book Ranking and Selection Committee and introduced a new policy to limit the number of approved textbooks per subject, as part of efforts to enhance the quality of instructional materials and ease the financial burden on parents and guardians.
Speaking at the inauguration on Monday in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the current textbook approval system lacked proper validation and ranking, allowing some subjects to have as many as 50 approved textbooks without clear quality benchmarks.
According to him, the absence of a structured ranking framework resulted in low-quality instructional materials being approved alongside books with stronger pedagogical value.
Alausa also criticised publishers for bundling core textbooks with workbooks and other consumable materials, a practice he said compelled parents to purchase new books annually and imposed unnecessary financial pressure on families.
He explained that the newly inaugurated committee would introduce reforms aimed at capping the number of approved textbooks per subject, ensuring transparent and objective ranking, and protecting learners and parents from exploitative practices.
The minister charged the committee to review existing approval frameworks, recommend stronger assessment and ranking instruments, define clear and enforceable quality standards, and propose measures to ensure genuine content improvement before new editions are approved.
He added that although regulatory agencies may approve more textbooks, only seven books per subject would be officially ranked for selection by schools, particularly under the Universal Basic Education Commission framework.
Alausa further disclosed that once ranked, textbooks would remain in use for a minimum of three years, except in cases of major curriculum or technological changes. He urged the committee to also address pricing transparency, edition control, and the separation of durable textbooks from consumable materials, while calling on the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council to publicise the reforms to reassure parents.
The committee is chaired by the Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, and includes representatives from key education agencies such as NERDC, UBEC, the National Teachers’ Institute, and the National Senior Secondary Education Commission.
In her remarks, Ahmad assured that the committee is committed to reforming the textbook approval process to ensure learners have access to high-quality instructional materials, noting that under the old system, textbooks were approved without benchmarks to distinguish their quality levels.
