The Federal Government has unveiled plans to completely phase out the use of chalkboards in Nigerian schools by 2027, replacing them with digital smart boards as part of a nationwide education reform aimed at modernizing classrooms and improving learning outcomes.
Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, disclosed this during a ministerial roundtable meeting in Abuja, where he reaffirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to bridging the digital divide in the education sector.
Alausa announced that the annual school census will become fully digital by 2026, noting that technology is now central to the government’s education strategy. He revealed that more than 60,000 tablets have already been distributed to pupils in Adamawa, Oyo, and Katsina States under the Airtech (Amazon Web Services) and BESDA programs, with another 30,000 devices to be delivered soon.
He added that the government recently launched its first smart board, emphasizing that by 2027 every school in the country will have one installed. “This is how we can cascade high-quality education to every child, regardless of where they live or their parents’ background,” he said.
According to the minister, the new interactive boards will gradually replace traditional chalkboards, allowing teachers to integrate multimedia, digital textbooks, and interactive lessons that make learning more engaging and participatory.
However, Alausa expressed deep concern over the country’s rising dropout rate, citing fresh data from the Nigeria Education Management Information System (NEMIS). The figures showed that out of 30 million pupils captured across 21 states, only about six million advanced to senior secondary level, meaning roughly 24 million children dropped out along the way.
“The data is alarming,” he said. “From primary to junior secondary, we lose between 10 and 20 million pupils, and another four million before senior secondary. Now that we can see the numbers clearly, we can design interventions based on evidence and track progress.”
He explained that every student’s biometric data is being uploaded to a digital platform to improve planning and accountability. “It’s no longer manual; we are taking paper out of the process completely,” he said, adding that WAEC and JAMB data would also be integrated into the new digital system.
Alausa commended UNICEF for its technical assistance and thanked President Tinubu for his political and financial support for the digital transformation of Nigeria’s education system.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Aisha Garba, confirmed that the commission has fully adopted technology in its operations, classroom teaching, and ongoing digitalisation of all public schools nationwide.