The Federal Government has announced plans to phase out chalkboards from classrooms nationwide by 2027, replacing them with smart boards to align Nigeria’s education system with global digital standards
Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, made this known in Abuja during a ministerial roundtable, reaffirming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to bridging the digital gap in education.
According to Alausa, the transition to digital learning will begin with the full digitalisation of the annual school census in 2026. He added that over 60,000 tablets have already been distributed to pupils in Adamawa, Oyo, and Katsina States under the Airtech (Amazon Web Services) and BESDA initiatives, with another 30,000 devices expected soon.
He revealed that the government launched its first smart board two weeks earlier, noting that by 2027 every school in Nigeria is expected to be equipped with one. “This is how we can cascade high-quality education to every child, irrespective of where they live or their parents’ background,” he said.
The minister explained that smart boards would gradually replace traditional chalkboards in public schools, introducing interactive lessons that allow teachers to integrate multimedia and digital textbooks while engaging students in real-time learning.
Alausa also highlighted the government’s focus on evidence-based interventions, citing alarming statistics from the Nigeria Education Management Information System (NEMIS). Out of 30 million pupils captured from 21 states, only six million advanced to senior secondary school, with nearly 24 million dropping out along the way.
“The information we’re seeing on that digital platform is scary,” he said. “From the 21 states that have uploaded their data, about 30 million children are in primary schools. From primary to junior secondary, we lose between 10 and 20 million children. Then another four million disappear before senior secondary. It’s alarming.”
He stressed that every pupil’s biometric data is now being uploaded to the digitised NEMIS platform to improve monitoring and ensure data-driven policy implementation.
“It’s no longer manual. Paper will be completely phased out,” Alausa said, adding that the Ministry also plans to integrate WAEC and JAMB data into the central education database.
He commended UNICEF for its technical support and appreciated President Tinubu for providing both financial and political backing for the digital transformation of Nigeria’s education sector.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Aisha Garba, confirmed that UBEC has fully embraced technology in its operations, teaching processes, and ongoing efforts to digitise all public schools.
Follow Us on Facebook – @LadunLiadi; Instagram – @LadunLiadi; Twitter – @LadunLiadi; Youtube – @LadunLiadiTV for updates
Long overdue