UBE Amendment Bill Summary

What Is This Bill?

The Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 is a legislative proposal to modernise and significantly strengthen Nigeria’s foundational education law — the UBE Act 2004 — by extending compulsory, free education to 12 years, incorporating Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) into the statutory framework for the first time, increasing federal financing from 2% to 5% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and introducing enhanced gender-responsive and enforcement provisions. The Bill directly responds to Nigeria’s crisis of over 18 million out-of-school children — one of the highest figures globally — and to the widely acknowledged failure of the existing Act to meet its own mandate after two decades.

Who Does It Target?

Every Nigerian child of school-going age — from early childhood through junior secondary school — entitled to free, compulsory, and quality basic education Parents and guardians who bear statutory obligations to enrol children and ensure attendance, with revised penalties for non-compliance The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs), whose mandates and funding mechanisms are directly reformed by the Bill Federal, state, and local governments responsible for implementing, funding, and enforcing the right to basic education within their jurisdictions Girls and vulnerable children — including nomads, almajirai, children with disabilities, and out-of-school children in conflict-affected areas — addressed through enhanced gender-responsive and inclusion provisions Private schools, not-for-profit institutions, and development partners participating in basic education delivery

What Does It Aim to Achieve?

Extend the duration of free, compulsory, universal basic education from 9 years to 12 years, integrating Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) as a mandatory, statutory entitlement Enshrine ECCE into Nigerian law for the first time — previously ECCE existed only in policy, with low enrolment rates as it was neither free nor compulsory Increase the federal allocation to the Universal Basic Education Fund from 2% to 5% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, aligning Nigeria with the UNESCO Education 2030 Framework for Action benchmark of 2–4% of GDP Strengthen the functions of UBEC (Section 9) to ensure swift implementation and enforce strict adherence to the approved formula for state and local government grant disbursements Introduce forfeiture provisions for states that fail to access matching grants, with clear rules on how forfeited grants are to be reallocated and utilised Reduce Nigeria’s out-of-school crisis and accelerate progress toward SDG 4 — inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030

Key Features

12-Year Compulsory Education: Extends free and compulsory basic education from the current 9 years (6 primary + 3 junior secondary) to 12 years by formally incorporating ECCE as the foundation of the basic education cycle ECCE Statutory Mandate: First-ever legislative recognition of Early Childhood Care and Education as free and compulsory; broadens the scope of the UBE Act to explicitly include ECCE within its objects and provisions Increased Financing (2% to 5%): Raises the federal Consolidated Revenue Fund allocation to UBEC from 2% to 5%, injecting significantly more resources into teacher training, school infrastructure, instructional materials, and curriculum instruction Grant Forfeiture Mechanism: Introduces penalties for states that fail to access matching grants, with forfeited funds reallocated according to a prescribed formula — addressing years of unaccessed federal grants worth billions of naira Strengthened UBEC Functions: Amends Section 9(b) to tighten UBEC’s oversight mandate and ensure grants to states and local governments strictly follow the Act’s approved allocation formula Gender-Responsive Provisions: Enhances protections for girls and vulnerable groups — including children in conflict-affected areas, street children, and children with disabilities — with specific inclusion obligations Counterpart Funding Reform: Revises the state counterpart funding framework to improve compliance, reduce bureaucratic barriers to fund access, and address the structural dysfunction that has left states unable to draw federal education grants

Current Status

Legislative Stage: First Reading in the House of Representatives, 6 February 2025; companion Senate Bill (SB. 297) passed Second Reading in December 2024 — referred to Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND Out-of-School Crisis: UNICEF’s September 2024 report puts Nigeria’s out-of-school children at 18.3 million — among the highest globally; the North-East and North-West are most severely affected due to insecurity and displacement Unaccessed Funds: A Federal High Court ruling in October 2025 (Falana v. Federal Republic) confirmed all 36 states and the FCT have a binding statutory duty to provide free, compulsory basic education and to access federal matching grants — directly validating the Bill’s rationale Executive Support: The Minister of Education publicly committed to meeting President Tinubu to advance the 5% CRF allocation, describing the 12-year free education target as “free, universal, mandatory and qualitative” UBEC Statistics (2022): 171,027 UBE schools nationwide; total enrolment of 47 million children; pupil-teacher ratio of 35:1, exceeding UNESCO’s recommended 25:1 in many states; only 56% of primary teachers hold minimum NCE qualification Cross-Party Support: House Basic Education Committee Chair Hon. Mark Useni and Senate counterpart Sen. Adamu Lawal working cross-party and cross-house to advance the amendment as a matter of national urgency

How to Access

Parents & Guardians: Monitor passage of the Bill; upon enactment, all children aged 3–15 will be entitled to free, compulsory education in public schools with no levies or fees permissible State Governments: Engage SUBEBs to prepare for expanded scope of UBE delivery; access federal matching grants through UBEC in compliance with counterpart funding obligations to avoid forfeiture UBEC: Prepare implementation guidelines for ECCE integration and the revised 5% funding formula; update disbursement procedures to reflect grant forfeiture provisions upon enactment Civil Society & NGOs: Participate in advocacy for speedy passage of the Bill; support monitoring of counterpart fund compliance and enrolment of vulnerable and out-of-school children Investors & Private Sector: Engage the Ministry of Education on public-private partnership opportunities in ECCE and school infrastructure as the expanded 12-year mandate creates new demand across the education value chain Contact: Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC): ubec.gov.ng | No. 7 Gwani Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja | Federal Ministry of Education: education.gov.ng | National Assembly (Bills): nass.gov.ng

Important Terms

ECCE: Early Childhood Care and Education — education and care for children from ages 0–5 (or 3–5 in formal pre-primary settings); proposed to be made free and compulsory for the first time under this Bill Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF): The main federal government account from which the UBE allocation is drawn; the Bill proposes increasing the UBE share from 2% to 5% of total CRF receipts annually Counterpart Funding: The 50% matching contribution states must provide to access federal UBE grants from UBEC; failure to comply has historically left billions of naira unaccessed in the UBE Fund UBEC: Universal Basic Education Commission — the federal agency established under the 2004 Act to coordinate and monitor all aspects of the UBE programme, disburse grants, and set minimum standards SUBEB: State Universal Basic Education Board — the state-level body through which UBEC funds are channelled to Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) for implementation

Impact & Metrics

Nigeria has 18.3 million out-of-school children (UNICEF, 2024) — one of the highest totals globally; the Bill directly targets structural causes of this crisis through expanded coverage and financing Over N342 billion was released in UBEC grants to states between 2005 and 2019 alone — yet significant portions remained unaccessed due to counterpart funding failures the Bill seeks to remedy Nigeria’s education budget has historically fallen below the UNESCO benchmark of 15–20% of national budget; raising the CRF allocation from 2% to 5% is a major structural step toward closing this gap Only 56% of primary school teachers hold the minimum Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) qualification; just 21% have received professional training in the past five years — the financing increase directly targets teacher development Pupil-teacher ratios reach as high as 78:1 in Katsina State and 69:1 in Yobe State — the Bill’s infrastructure and staffing funding is designed to drive these toward the UNESCO-recommended 25:1

Official Resources

Website: nass.gov.ng | ubec.gov.ng | education.gov.ng Bill Reference: HB. 2046 — Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 — available via National Assembly of Nigeria Contact: Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), No. 7 Gwani Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, Nigeria Summary prepared using the Policy Summary Template | Source: HB. 2046 (NASS Order Paper, 6 Feb 2025); UBE Act 2004; IPNEd; Tribune Online; Blueprint Newspapers; The Cable; UBEC; UNICEF Nigeria; Centre for Public Impact | March 2026

Legal Framework

Introduced under the legislative powers of the National Assembly vested by Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as an amendment to the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act 2004, which is the principal statute. Operates alongside the Universal Basic Education Commission Act, the National Policy on Education, and the Child Rights Act 2003. Aligns with obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on quality education.