The Federal Government has approved a reduction in the fees charged for the assessment and ranking of textbooks as part of efforts to ease the financial burden on publishers and authors ahead of the implementation of the National Textbook Ranking System.
The development was announced in a statement signed by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), Salisu Shehu, and made available to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to the Council, the assessment fee has been reduced from ₦2,000 to ₦1,500 per page, while the fee for ranking textbooks has been reviewed downward from ₦1 million to ₦750,000 per title.
NERDC directed publishers and authors submitting textbooks for assessment to begin making payments based on the revised rates with immediate effect.
The Council also disclosed that publishers who had already paid the former assessment fee of ₦2,000 per page would be refunded the excess amount, adding that details of the refund process would be communicated in due course.
It urged publishers and other stakeholders in the book industry to comply with the new payment structure.
The fee review comes ahead of the rollout of the Federal Government’s National Textbook Ranking System, an initiative introduced by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Alausa, to standardise instructional materials used in schools across the country.
Beginning in September 2026, only textbooks that have been assessed, approved and ranked by NERDC will be authorised for use in Nigerian classrooms, while unranked textbooks will no longer be permitted.
The Federal Government said the policy is intended to curb the proliferation of textbooks in schools and ensure that teachers and learners have access to quality instructional materials that align with the national curriculum.
Under the new framework, NERDC will continue to perform its statutory responsibility of approving textbooks for use in schools. However, approval alone will no longer qualify a textbook for classroom use, as every approved title must also undergo a structured national evaluation and ranking process by expert committees to determine the most suitable books for each subject and level of education.
