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The Federal Government and the World Bank have restructured the $500 million HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All (HOPE-Education) programme following significant adjustments to Nigeria’s education grant allocation under the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).
The restructuring introduces changes to several funding components of the programme, including allocations for classroom construction, teacher support, literacy development, school grants, and learning materials. Despite the adjustments, the initiative is expected to continue driving efforts to improve access to quality education and strengthen learning outcomes across participating states.
Details of the restructuring were contained in a World Bank document obtained from the institution’s website on Thursday.
According to the document, Nigeria’s GPE System Transformation Grant allocation was reduced from $107.59 million to $53.975 million, necessitating a revision of programme financing arrangements and implementation priorities.
Originally designed as a joint implementation arrangement between the World Bank and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the revised structure now places the reduced GPE allocation under the World Bank’s management through the HOPE-Education programme.
The HOPE-Education initiative was approved by the World Bank Board on March 31, 2025, and is being financed through a $500 million International Development Association (IDA) credit alongside a $52.18 million grant from the Global Partnership for Education.
Classroom Construction Funding Reduced
One of the most notable adjustments under the restructuring affects funding tied to classroom construction and community participation.
Under Disbursement-Linked Indicator (DLI) 4, which focuses on the creation of new primary school classrooms through government-community collaboration, funding was significantly reduced from $5.7 million to $2.55 million.
Allocations for government-community agreements supporting classroom construction across 15 states dropped from $500,000 to $300,000, while funding directly tied to the construction of 13,000 classrooms declined from $5.2 million to $2.25 million.
Despite the reduction in financial allocation, the World Bank maintained that the target of constructing 13,000 classrooms remains unchanged under the updated results framework.
The development comes at a time when Nigeria continues to face major education infrastructure deficits, particularly in underserved and rural communities where overcrowded classrooms, poor learning environments, and inadequate facilities continue to affect learning outcomes for millions of children.
Education stakeholders have repeatedly stressed the importance of sustained investment in classroom infrastructure as part of broader efforts to tackle the country’s out-of-school children crisis and improve the quality of public basic education.
More States Added to Programme Coverage
In addition to the funding adjustments, the restructuring also expanded the number of states benefiting from targeted interventions under Results Area 1 of the programme.
The number of participating states increased from three to six, with Abia, Bauchi, and Kwara joining the previously listed states of Akwa Ibom, Kebbi, and Lagos.
According to the World Bank, the expansion is expected to broaden the programme’s reach and strengthen educational support across more regions of the country.
New Allocations for Teaching and Learning Materials
The revised funding arrangement also introduced changes to allocations tied to teaching and learning materials.
Under DLI 1, which focuses on improving access to instructional materials in public schools, previous allocations were replaced with new performance-based targets specifically for GPE-supported states.
The updated structure introduced a $7.419 million allocation aimed at ensuring that 80 per cent of public primary schools in participating states have sufficient teaching and learning materials for pupils in Grades 1 to 3.
Another $3.569 million allocation was introduced to support the provision of learning materials for pupils in Grades 4 to 6.
Education experts have consistently identified inadequate learning materials as one of the major barriers to effective teaching and learning outcomes in Nigeria’s public school system.
Across many communities, teachers and pupils often struggle with shortages of textbooks, instructional guides, classroom learning aids, and other educational resources necessary for foundational literacy and numeracy development.
Teacher Mentoring and Literacy Funding Decline
The restructuring also affected allocations tied to teacher mentoring and structured pedagogy interventions.
Funding under DLI 2, which supports improvements in teaching practices and teacher mentoring systems, declined from $14.866 million to $12.664 million after several performance indicators were revised downward and one indicator was removed completely.
Similarly, allocations under DLI 3, which focuses on improving literacy and numeracy proficiency among school children, fell from $7.934 million to $5.06 million.
The reduction followed the removal of a performance-based allocation linked to increasing the percentage of children achieving literacy and numeracy proficiency in IDA-supported states.
While the funding reductions may raise concerns among education advocates, analysts say the continuation of the programme itself remains significant, especially given the scale of Nigeria’s educational challenges.
According to estimates by development agencies, Nigeria remains home to one of the largest populations of out-of-school children globally, with millions of children lacking access to safe, inclusive, and quality learning opportunities.
School Grants and Data Reporting Receive Boost
Funding allocations connected to reducing the number of out-of-school children under DLI 5 also recorded a decline, dropping from $1.733 million to $1.283 million.
However, not all components of the programme experienced cuts.
The restructuring document showed that allocations tied to annual school grants under DLI 7 increased significantly from $4.73 million to $7.865 million.
Funding for annual school census reporting under DLI 8 also rose from $4.45 million to $5.676 million.
The increase in school grant funding is expected to strengthen school-level interventions and improve operational support for participating public schools.
Similarly, improved school census reporting is expected to enhance education data collection, planning, monitoring, and evidence-based policymaking across participating states.
Accurate education data has remained a critical challenge within Nigeria’s education sector, often affecting planning, budget allocation, and intervention tracking.
World Bank Maintains Programme Objectives
The World Bank also noted that the restructuring would require modifications to the verification process for GPE-supported states, while verification arrangements for IDA-financed states would remain unchanged.
Despite the financial restructuring, the bank maintained that there are no changes to the programme’s development objectives, implementation timeline, or institutional arrangements.
According to the World Bank, implementation of the HOPE-Education programme has already commenced and is beginning to record early progress since becoming effective on February 26, 2026.
Why the Programme Still Matters
The programme forms part of broader efforts by the Federal Government and development partners to address learning poverty, improve access to foundational education, and strengthen the resilience of Nigeria’s education system.
Stakeholders say the success of the programme will ultimately depend on effective implementation, transparency in fund utilization, collaboration with state governments, and sustained investment in public education infrastructure and teacher development.
As Nigeria continues to grapple with challenges including inadequate school infrastructure, teacher shortages, learning poverty, and rising numbers of out-of-school children, education-focused interventions such as HOPE-Education remain critical to the country’s long-term human capital development goals.
The restructuring may have altered funding priorities, but development experts insist that the programme still presents an important opportunity to improve educational outcomes and expand access to quality learning for millions of Nigerian children.
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