The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has approved a reduction in the fees for textbook assessment and ranking, easing the financial burden on publishers and authors ahead of the implementation of the Federal Government’s National Textbook Ranking System.
The downward review was announced in a statement signed by the Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof. Salisu Shehu, and made available to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja.
Under the revised fee structure, the assessment fee has been reduced from N2,000 to N1,500 per page, while the ranking fee has been cut from N1 million to N750,000 per textbook title.
NERDC directed publishers and authors submitting textbooks for assessment to make payments based on the new rates with immediate effect.
The Council also disclosed that publishers who had already paid the previous assessment fee of N2,000 per page would receive refunds of the excess payment, adding that the refund procedure would be communicated in due course.
It urged all stakeholders in the publishing industry to comply with the revised fee regime.
The fee reduction comes ahead of the rollout of the Federal Government’s National Textbook Ranking System, an initiative introduced by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, to standardise learning materials used in Nigerian schools.
The policy, scheduled to take effect from September 2026, stipulates that only textbooks assessed, approved and ranked by NERDC will be authorised for classroom use, while unranked textbooks will not be permitted.
According to the minister, the initiative is aimed at addressing the proliferation of textbooks in schools and ensuring that learners and teachers have access only to high quality, curriculum compliant instructional materials.
He added that while NERDC would continue to perform its statutory responsibility of approving textbooks for use in Nigerian schools, approval alone would no longer suffice.
Under the new policy, approved textbooks will undergo a structured national evaluation and ranking process by expert committees to identify the most suitable and highest quality books for each subject and level of education.
