President Bola Tinubu has approved a six year freeze on establishing new privately owned universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education following Wednesday's Federal Executive Council meeting.
Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, cited Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board figures showing that over 2.3 million candidates applied for university admission last year, with fewer than 228,000 securing placements in public universities.
"Today, access is not easy in the country. We have lots of tertiary institutions, both public and private. We need to help these private institutions be sustainable financially," Alausa stated whilst briefing State House correspondents.
FEC also approved amendments to the National Postgraduate Medical College Act to recognise medical fellowships as equivalent to a PhD for academic progression, addressing career barriers faced by highly specialised medical professionals who spend more than a decade in training.
The Council granted comprehensive insurance coverage for the 180 federal unity schools nationwide and restored the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non Formal Education to its full status as an independent commission.
Alausa expressed concern over Nigeria's literacy crisis, revealing that approximately 56 million Nigerians remain illiterate.
"Today, we have about 56 million Nigerians who are illiterate. We can't continue to have a high number of illiterate citizens," the minister noted, explaining that President Tinubu approved NMEC's restoration after its chairman presented an agenda to educate over 50 million young adults in the next two to three years and make them digitally literate.
The commission plans to intensify outreach in rural areas through radio, television, public advocacy, and community based learning centres.
NMEC was established under Decree No. 17 of 1990, later codified as Act No. 18 of 2004, with the formal commencement date of 25th June 1990.
The temporary freeze on new tertiary institutions aims to strengthen quality and ensure sustainability across existing institutions, particularly private universities struggling with financial challenges.
In 2025, the National Universities Commission approved 33 new universities across the country, bringing the total number to 309, with FEC having imposed a seven year ban on the establishment of federal tertiary institutions during the same year.
