The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has reduced the cost of textbook assessment and ranking and directed that publishers who paid the previous, higher assessment fees be reimbursed in an effort to alleviate the financial burden on stakeholders ahead of the implementation of the Federal Government’s National Textbook Ranking System.
The decision was announced in a statement signed by the Council’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Salisu Shehu, and released on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to the statement, the assessment fee has been reduced “from N2,000 to N1,500 per page, while the ranking fee has been reviewed downward from N1 million to N750,000 per textbook title.”
According to Prof. Shehu, the updated costs go into effect immediately and are meant to let publishers and authors participate in the new textbook evaluation process.
He also indicated that publishers who had previously paid the former assessment price of N2,000 per page would receive a reimbursement for the excess amount.
“Publishers who had already paid the previous assessment fee of N2,000 per page will receive refunds of the excess payment, while the procedure for processing the refunds will be announced soon,” the statement stated.
The Council noted that “publishers and authors submitting textbooks for assessment are to make payments based on the revised rates with immediate effect.”
The NERDC has urged publishers, authors, and other stakeholders in the book industry to comply with the new fee structure.
This comes as the federal government prepares to implement the National Textbook Ranking System, a major education reform introduced by Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa to improve the quality of instructional materials used in Nigerian schools.
The regulation, which goes into effect in September 2026, will only allow textbooks that have been examined, approved, and ranked by NERDC to be used in the classroom, while unranked textbooks will no longer be permitted in schools.
When the program was first announced, Alausa stated that it was intended to combat the growth of inferior textbooks and ensure that learners and teachers had access to only high-quality, curriculum-compliant learning materials.
He explained that, while the NERDC would continue to carry out its statutory responsibility of approving textbooks, approval alone would no longer suffice, as each approved textbook would be subjected to a rigorous national evaluation and ranking by expert committees before being recommended for use in schools.
The National Textbook Ranking System is one of the fundamental changes made by the Federal Ministry of Education as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda to improve the quality of basic and secondary education.
The ministry has also established statewide learning evaluations, reopened abandoned Unity College e-libraries, extended digital learning infrastructure, and implemented steps to combat learning poverty, which the government says impacts over 42 million Nigerian pupils.
Officials stated that the textbook ranking strategy is designed to improve quality assurance, encourage excellence in educational publishing, and ensure that only the best instructional materials are used in classrooms across the country.
