UK-funded programme supports 2m children, trains 25,000 teachers

More than two million children have benefited from the UK-funded Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE), which also supported the training of over 25,000 teachers and facilitators across northern Nigeria since its launch in 2019.

However, stakeholders have warned that the gains recorded under the programme could be reversed unless state governments take ownership of its interventions and provide sustained funding.

The warning came on Wednesday at the programme’s close-out event in Kaduna, where government officials and education stakeholders called for successful interventions to be integrated into state education policies and budgets.

Implemented by DAI, UNICEF, Save the Children and other consortium partners, PLANE supported education reforms, foundational literacy and numeracy, child protection and learning opportunities for vulnerable children, including those affected by emergencies.

Speaking at the event, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Pete Vowles, said the programme had demonstrated the importance of collaboration among governments, teachers, communities and development partners in improving learning outcomes.

“While we are celebrating the achievements of the programme today, the most important question is what happens next,” he said.

“PLANE is closing. The UK’s education partnership with Nigeria is not,” he added.

Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, represented by his deputy, Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, challenged state governments to take responsibility for sustaining the programme’s achievements.

“PLANE has done its part. It is now up to us, the state governments, to keep the progress going,” he said.

The governor disclosed that basic school enrolment in Kaduna increased from 2.17 million in 2022 to more than 2.57 million in 2025.

He added that household mapping conducted across the state’s 23 local government areas identified 187,719 out-of-school children, compared with an estimated 535,000 when he assumed office.

The Acting Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr Folake Olatunji-David, said sustaining the programme’s gains would require greater attention to school attendance, retention, completion and foundational learning.

Olatunji-David urged state governments to incorporate successful interventions into their education policies and budgetary frameworks to ensure continuity beyond the programme’s lifespan.

Similarly, Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abubakar Sani Sambo, disclosed that more than 25,000 out-of-school children had returned to learning across the state.

“The seeds sown under PLANE are already bearing fruit,” he said.

However, the Borno State Commissioner for Education, Engr. Abba Lawan Wakilbe, said the programme’s ultimate success would depend on what governments did after its closure.

“The legacy of PLANE will not be measured by what it has done, but by what we achieve from it afterwards,” he said.