The Federal Government has announced plans to train between 125,000 and 150,000 Nigerian youths in the next phase of its vocational education programme, aimed at boosting skills development and job creation nationwide.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during the launch of the Federal Ministry of Education’s Communication Strategy (2025–2027). He explained that the initiative is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen technical and vocational education, expand access, and equip young people with employable skills.
According to the Minister, the programme will provide free education in technical schools, covering tuition, boarding, feeding, and a monthly stipend of N22,500 to reduce financial barriers for trainees. “Commencing with the 2025/26 academic year, we are providing free education in our technical schools. This covers tuition, boarding, feeding, and a monthly stipend of N22,500,” Alausa said.
He noted that the Ministry recently launched a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) digital platform, which attracted 1.3 million applicants within weeks. Of these, 960,000 completed their applications, while more than 1,600 accredited centres have been onboarded. So far, 58,000 students have been matched to centres across the country, with the next cohort set to begin in two weeks.
The vocational training programme is part of broader government reforms in the education sector. In the past six months, over 4,900 classrooms have been constructed, 3,000 renovated, and 34 model and SMART schools built, reaching 2.3 million learners nationwide.
Alausa added that 21 states have now integrated their data into the Nigeria Education Data Initiative (NEDI), a centralized and secure platform that enables real-time monitoring of learners from primary to secondary school, with plans to extend it to tertiary education soon.
The Minister also revealed that the government plans to reintroduce the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, which was suspended in January 2024. “Mothers will be paid directly to ensure that children are fed well, and we have put mechanisms in place to guarantee transparency and accountability,” he said.
He emphasized that the new Communication Strategy would standardize messaging across departments and agencies, foster transparency, and improve stakeholder engagement in the education sector.
