The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has reduced the fees charged for textbook assessment and ranking in preparation for the implementation of the Federal Government’s National Textbook Ranking System.
It was reported that the council also ordered that the excess amount be refunded to the publishers who already paid the previous assessment charges.
The decision was contained in a statement signed by the Executive Secretary, NERDC, Professor Salisu Shehu and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
The council said the fee for assessment of the textbook has been reduced from N2,000 to N1, 500 per page.
The ranking charge was also slashed from N1m to N750,000 per each textbook title submitted for evaluation.
“The assessment fee has been reviewed downwards from ₦2,000 to ₦1,500 per page, while the ranking fee has been reviewed downwards from ₦1m to ₦750,000 per textbook title,” the statement said.
Shehu said the new charges would take immediate effect and were meant to ease the financial burden on publishers and authors who are involved in the new evaluation system.
NERDC said publishers who had paid the old assessment rate would be entitled to refunds to make up the difference between the old and revised charges.
“The procedure for processing the refunds will be announced in due course” The council added that publishers who have already paid the previous assessment fee of ₦2,000 per page will be refunded the excess payment.
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It said publishers and authors who submit textbooks for assessment should start paying at the new rates immediately.
The council urged stakeholders in the publishing industry to adhere to the new fee structure.
The reduction in the fee is being implemented in advance of the planned launch of the National Textbook Ranking System in September 2026.
The policy was introduced by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, as part of efforts to improve the quality of teaching materials used in schools in Nigeria.
The initiative will ensure that only textbooks that are assessed, approved and ranked by NERDC will be recommended for use in classrooms.
When the policy comes into effect, schools will not be allowed to use textbooks that have not been ranked.
Alausa said the initiative was aimed at tackling the growing circulation of substandard textbooks and ensuring that teachers and pupils are provided with materials that are consistent with the national curriculum.
He said that while NERDC would still have its statutory responsibility of approving textbooks, just being approved would no longer make a book suitable for use in the classroom.
Before being recommended to schools, each approved textbook would also undergo a national evaluation and ranking process carried out by expert committees.
The ranking of the textbooks is part of the broader reforms that the Federal Ministry of Education is implementing under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Other measures include nationwide learning assessments, revival of abandoned e-libraries in Federal Unity Colleges and expansion of digital learning infrastructure .
The ministry has also rolled out interventions to tackle learning poverty which the government estimates affects about 42 million Nigerian children.
Education officials said the ranking system would improve quality assurance, encourage publishers to raise their standards and ensure schools were using the most appropriate teaching materials.
