In 2025, Nigeria’s education system was forced into an uncomfortable reckoning.
From courtrooms to classrooms, policy debates moved beyond theory and into lived reality, exposing deep cracks in how institutions protect students, certify achievement, teach national identity, and prepare young people for work.
Allegations of sexual harassment in universities reignited questions about power and accountability.
Long-abandoned subjects returned to the timetable. Academic titles were stripped of their ceremonial excess.
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Certificates were placed under digital scrutiny. And technical skills, once sidelined, were pulled back into the national spotlight.
Rather than a single reform, the year unfolded as a series of decisive interventions, some corrective and others ambitious.
This round-up story discusses the key education policies that shaped Nigeria in 2025.
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ANTI-HARRASSMENT POLICY
In November, the sexual harassment trial involving Cyril Ndifon, the suspended dean of the faculty of law at the University of Calabar, reached a verdict. The professor was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in a scandal that brought renewed national attention to the prevalence of sexual misconduct within Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
The case, which stemmed from allegations made by female law students, became one of several high-profile incidents that underscored long-standing concerns about power abuse, institutional silence, and the lack of effective redress mechanisms in the education sector.
Against this backdrop, 2025 marked a turning point as sexual harassment in higher education shifted from a recurring concern to the centre of legislative action.
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During the year, the national assembly passed the Sexual Harassment of Students (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, prescribing penalties of up to 14 years’ imprisonment for educators found guilty of sexually harassing students.
Beyond legislation, oversight bodies such as the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), alongside civil society organisations, intensified calls for institutions to move beyond symbolic compliance by enforcing functional anti-harassment policies, establishing reporting mechanisms, and holding offenders accountable.
NUC POLICY ON HONORARY DOCTORATES
For years, honorary doctorate degrees in Nigeria have quietly lost their prestige, reduced in some cases to ceremonial titles exchanged for influence, money, or proximity to power.
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In 2025, the National Universities Commission moved to halt the slide.
Alarmed by the growing misuse of honorary titles, the commission announced a new policy to regulate how such degrees are awarded and used, following investigations that uncovered widespread racketeering.
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The probe identified at least 32 local and foreign institutions operating as honorary doctorate mills, some of them awarding degrees and even professorships without accreditation, merit, or oversight.
NUC officials said the abuse not only violated the Keffi Declaration of 2012 but also eroded public trust in the university system, blurring the line between earned academic achievement and symbolic recognition.
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HISTORY RETURNED TO SCHOOL CURRICULUM
For nearly two decades, Nigerian classrooms taught young learners little about the country’s past, as History gradually disappeared from the basic school curriculum.
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In 2025, that absence officially came to an end. The federal government restored History as a compulsory subject for all pupils from Primary 1 to Junior Secondary School 3, marking a significant shift in how national identity and civic education are taught.
Tunji Alausa, the education minister, said the decision was driven by concerns that generations of students were growing up disconnected from Nigeria’s historical journey, describing History as a vital tool for nurturing unity, patriotism, and responsible citizenship.
Under the revised curriculum, primary school pupils will learn structured history modules covering Nigeria’s traditional governance systems, colonial experience, and nationalist movements. At the same time, junior secondary students will study the subject through civic and heritage studies.
The reintroduction follows years of debate, teacher training efforts, and curriculum reviews, bringing History back into classrooms 16 years after it was removed.
This reopens conversations about how a nation remembers, teaches, and understands itself.
REVISED BASIC, SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM
In 2025, Nigeria’s revised secondary school curriculum officially rolled out, but not without public confusion and debate.
The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) released the approved subject list, urging Nigerians to ignore earlier versions circulating online that had triggered speculation about new compulsory subjects and exam requirements.
Designed to reduce subject overload and introduce digital and vocational skills, the reform streamlined senior secondary trade subjects from 26 to six and redefined core subjects across schools.
Controversy erupted after reports suggested students would be forced to sit for subjects they had not been taught ahead of the 2026 WASSCE, prompting concerns from parents and educators.
In response, education minister Tunji Alausa clarified that no student would be compelled to take any subject they had not offered in school, adding that new subjects such as Citizenship and Heritage Studies and Digital Technologies would not be examined in 2026.
NATIONAL CREDENTIAL VERIFICATION SCHEME
Certificate forgery has long plagued Nigeria’s public space, resurfacing repeatedly in high-profile scandals involving public officials and raising questions about the credibility of academic qualifications.
In 2018, Kemi Adeosun, then minister of finance, resigned after admitting she falsified Her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate.
Years later, similar allegations trailed Uche Nnaji, the minister of innovation, science, and technology, who was accused of fabricating his university credentials and NYSC certificate.
While both cases ended in resignations, the problem of authentic verification of credentials persists.
In response, the federal government introduced the National Credential Verification Service (NCVS) to curb academic fraud and certification racketeering.
NCVS requires the verification of academic credentials for staff and recruits across government and higher education institutions, making every certificate, diploma, and award traceable through a centralised system under the National Education Repository and Databank (NERD).
TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION/TRAINING
For many years, technical education received little attention in Nigeria, as most students were pushed toward conventional secondary schools and universities.
In 2025, the federal government began a renewed Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme to promote skills that match labour market needs and reduce youth unemployment.
The initiative focuses on practical skills needed in sectors such as construction, transportation, oil and gas, agriculture, and renewable energy.
As part of the reforms, federal technical colleges are being restructured to admit only students pursuing vocational trades, addressing a gap where technical colleges make up a very small fraction of Nigeria’s secondary schools.
Students enrolled in the programme will receive free tuition, accommodation, feeding, and support for industrial training, alongside a monthly N45,000 stipend meant to encourage enrolment.
The government also plans to expand the number of technical colleges and introduce a national skills fund to sustain the programme and strengthen skills development nationwide.
