Di Federal Government don make participation for national tertiary education ranking exercise compulsory for all institutions. Di exercise wey before na only universities, don now cover polytechnics and colleges of education too. Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announce dis for Abuja during meeting with di Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee, wey dem don expand and rename as Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee.
Alausa say di expanded ranking framework na part of President Bola Tinubu education reforms under di Renewed Hope Agenda. Dem dey implement am through di Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI). Di exercise don design to strengthen quality, accountability, institutional performance and global competitiveness across Nigeria tertiary education system.
He explain say di ranking go provide institutions with clear benchmarks to assess dia performance. E go help dem identify areas wey need improvement and measure progress. E go also promote healthy competition among institutions.
Ranking go now be normal tins for all schools.
Di minister disclose say di 2026/2027 ranking exercise for universities go commence for September. Di committee go determine di appropriate timeline for extending di exercise to polytechnics and colleges of education. Alausa promise say Federal Government go provide funding through Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). Dem go develop guidelines to institutionalise di exercise and formally communicate to vice-chancellors and heads of other tertiary institutions say participation na compulsory.
Speaking earlier, Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, describe di initiative as major step towards strengthening accountability and quality across di tertiary education sector. She say healthy competition among institutions go encourage dem to assess dia performance, address identified gaps and continuously improve di quality of education wey dem dey provide.
Di minister also stress say di ranking exercise need to cover both public and private institutions. She say e go provide mechanism for establishing and maintaining minimum standards across di sector. She assure di committee of di Ministry support, noting say di exercise go enable institutions to understand dia strengths and weaknesses and drive measurable improvements as di tertiary education system expand.
Chairman of di committee and former Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Emeritus Professor Peter Okebukola, for im remarks, say di committee meeting with Alausa follow a memorandum wey congratulate di Tinubu administration on di increasing number of Nigerian universities wey dey gain global recognition. Okebukola say di committee also call for greater investment in university education to accelerate di progress.
E disclose say Alausa response go beyond di committee initial proposal by expanding NURAC mandate to polytechnics and colleges of education. E express optimism say sustained investment, stronger institutional capacity and di new national ranking framework go enable more Nigerian tertiary institutions to make significant progress for international rankings.
Alausa further pledge say Federal Ministry of Education go provide di policy direction, funding and capacity-building support wey dem need to make di ranking exercise credible, sustainable and impactful. E say di Ministry go work with di committee to facilitate in-service training and institutional capacity-building programmes across tertiary institutions.
Di minister express expectation say di measures go result for significantly more Nigerian institutions achieving greater global recognition for subsequent international ranking exercises.
