ABUJA/Nigeria: The Federal Government has reduced the fees charged for the assessment and ranking of school textbooks, reversing an earlier increase that attracted widespread criticism from publishers, authors and education stakeholders.
The decision comes ahead of the planned rollout of the National Textbook Ranking System in September and is expected to reduce compliance costs for publishers while helping to keep educational materials affordable.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) announced that the assessment fee had been reduced by 25 per cent, from ₦2,000 to ₦1,500 per page, while the ranking fee for each textbook title was also cut by 25 per cent, from ₦1 million to ₦750,000.
The Council said the revised fees take immediate effect and directed that publishers who had already paid under the previous assessment rate should receive refunds of the excess payments.
According to NERDC, the review followed consultations with stakeholders and was aimed at easing the financial burden on publishers and authors while encouraging broader participation in the textbook evaluation process.
The initial fee increase had generated opposition from education stakeholders, who argued that the higher charges would increase the cost of producing textbooks and ultimately raise prices for schools, parents and students.
Among those who publicly criticised the policy was media entrepreneur and education advocate, Lady Ejiro Umukoro, founder of LightRay! Media. She led a sustained campaign urging the Federal Government to review the charges, arguing that the policy could undermine access to affordable learning materials.
The campaign attracted support from the Nigerian Publishers Association and other education stakeholders, who warned that the increased fees would discourage publishers from submitting textbooks for assessment and place additional financial pressure on the education sector.
The controversy also prompted a stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Education, bringing together officials of NERDC, representatives of the Nigerian Publishers Association, the Network of Book Clubs and Reading Culture Promoters, and other industry stakeholders to review concerns raised over the policy.
With the revised fee structure now in place, publishers seeking assessment and ranking of their textbooks will pay the lower charges, while those affected by the earlier rates are expected to receive refunds as directed by the government.
The policy reversal is expected to provide relief for publishers preparing titles for the national ranking exercise and could help moderate production costs ahead of the next academic session.
Education stakeholders, however, say the effectiveness of the review will depend on the timely processing of refunds and the transparent implementation of the revised assessment framework.
