By Solomon OKPO
The Federal Government has inaugurated a Book Ranking and Selection Committee in a decisive move to reform Nigeria’s chaotic textbook approval system and ease the financial burden on parents and schools.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the initiative on Monday in Abuja while inaugurating members of the committee, describing the assignment as a critical intervention to restore order, quality and credibility to textbook usage in Nigerian schools.
Alausa acknowledged that the existing approval framework has been deeply flawed, noting that some subjects currently have as many as 50 approved textbooks without any clear or enforceable quality benchmarks. According to him, this has allowed substandard materials to gain approval alongside well-produced texts, undermining learning outcomes and confusing schools.
He further criticised the practice by some publishers of bundling core textbooks with workbooks and other consumables, a strategy that compels parents to purchase new materials annually, regardless of whether the main content has changed. The minister said this practice has imposed unnecessary and avoidable financial pressure on families.
Under its mandate, the newly inaugurated committee is expected to cap the number of approved textbooks per subject, introduce an objective and transparent ranking system, and establish clear quality standards that publishers must meet. It will also enforce pricing transparency, regulate edition updates, and ensure a strict separation between core textbooks and consumable materials.
“Your assignment is both timely and strategic,” Alausa told committee members, stressing that no new textbook editions should be approved unless there is demonstrable and substantive improvement in content.
The reform, the minister said, is designed to protect parents and learners from exploitative publishing practices, improve learning standards nationwide, and restore public confidence in the textbook approval process.
Education stakeholders believe the move, if firmly implemented, could mark a turning point in Nigeria’s basic and secondary education system by ending the annual cycle of compulsory textbook purchases and refocusing attention on quality, affordability and educational value.
