Esther Oluku
The Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA) yesterday criticised the implementation of the federal government’s proposed textbook ranking policy, expressing concerns over the transparency of the process and warning that the initiative could commercialise access to educational materials.
The association also decried a 300 per cent increase in textbook assessment fees by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), from N500 to N2,000 per page, alongside an additional charge of N1 million per subject for ranking. The publishers argued that the new fees, introduced as the preliminary assessment exercise, commenced on June 8, 2026, and could place a heavy financial burden on industry operators and ultimately affect the affordability of textbooks.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos, the NPA President, Mr. Lukman Dauda, explained that while the policy proposes to ensure that learners have access to accurate, relevant, and affordable educational materials, it inherently smacks of deceit and breeds commercialisation,on thereby weakening the standard it seeks to uphold.
According to him, “If the policy is being followed through, it will disrupt the nation’s academic sector, stifle market competition, and precipitate an unprecedented scarcity of instructional materials nationwide.
“How will such charges bring down the cost of books and make them more affordable to parents? We urge the Federal Ministry of Education to come out clean on the real intentions behind this unpopular experiment.
“As it stands, the integrity and transparency of the process are in doubt. Why would a reform that is genuinely targeted at quality, accessible, and affordable education design the process only for the highest bidder? The whole process smacks of deceit shrouded in the cloak of educational reforms,” the president stressed.
He noted that a standard publishing firm intending to provide comprehensive materials across the basic and senior secondary curricula would incur an aggregate cost of N135,570,000 for assessment and ranking alone.
Dauda further argued that the ranking framework is modeled after foreign jurisdictions with significantly smaller demographics, rendering it incompatible with Nigeria’s domestic realities.
The country, he stated, possesses an expansive educational ecosystem, comprising approximately 60 million students and over 200 active publishing firms.
Dauda said restricting approved literature to a limited selection of ranked titles introduces institutional bias and threatens industry stability, adding that the policy was introduced while operators are still adjusting to the new national curriculum introduced merely seven months ago without a conventional transition period.
As a sustainable alternative, he urged the regulatory authorities to fortify the existing evaluation framework by certifying all textbooks that fulfill the prescribed national standards, rather than subjecting them to a comparative ranking system.
“The future of Nigerian children must not become the subject of policy experimentation, political expediency, or self-serving interests,” Dauda said.
He called on state governments, educational proprietors, and relevant stakeholders to intervene and demand an immediate review of the policy.
