The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NERDC, has reduced the fees for the assessment and ranking of textbooks, offering financial relief to publishers and authors ahead of the rollout of its National Textbook Ranking System.
The downward review was contained in a statement personally signed by the Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof. Salisu Shehu, and made available to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja.
Under the revised fee structure, the cost of textbook assessment has been reduced from N2,000 to N1,500 per page, while the fee for textbook ranking has been cut from N1 million to N750,000 per title.
The Council directed publishers and authors submitting textbooks for assessment to commence payments using the new rates with immediate effect.
NERDC also announced that publishers who had already paid the previous assessment fee of N2,000 per page would be refunded the excess amount.
It added that the procedure for processing the refunds would be communicated in due course.
The Council said the revised charges take immediate effect and urged stakeholders in the publishing industry to comply with the new fee regime.
The fee review comes ahead of the implementation of the Federal Government’s National Textbook Ranking System, an initiative introduced by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, to improve the quality and standardisation of learning materials used in schools across the country.
Beginning in September 2026, only textbooks that have been assessed, approved and ranked by NERDC will be eligible for use in Nigerian classrooms, while unranked books will no longer be permitted.
The Minister said the policy is intended to curb the proliferation of substandard textbooks and ensure that teachers and learners have access to high-quality instructional materials that comply with the national curriculum.
He explained that although NERDC will continue to perform its statutory responsibility of approving textbooks for schools, approval alone will no longer qualify a book for classroom use.
Under the new framework, all approved textbooks will undergo a structured national evaluation and ranking process conducted by expert panels to determine the most suitable and highest-quality titles for each subject and level of education.
