Federal Government Mandates National Ranking for All Tertiary Schools

Nigeria's Federal Government has declared that all universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education must now participate in the nation's tertiary education ranking initiative. This move signifies an expansion of the program, which previously focused solely on universities. Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, revealed this development on Tuesday in Abuja during discussions with the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee. The committee itself has undergone a transformation, being expanded and rebranded as the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee to reflect its broader mandate.

Minister Alausa explained that this broadened ranking framework aims to bolster “quality, accountability, institutional performance, and global competitiveness” throughout Nigeria's entire tertiary education sector. He emphasized that the ranking process would furnish institutions with “clear benchmarks for assessing their performance, identifying areas requiring improvement and measuring progress,” fostering constructive rivalry among them.

This fresh structure will see universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education operating under a singular national ranking system. The Federal Government intends to finance this undertaking via the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). Alausa stated that “The 2026/2027 ranking exercise for universities would commence in September,” noting that the advisory committee would subsequently establish a suitable schedule for incorporating polytechnics and colleges of education into the process. He further mentioned that “the government would develop guidelines to institutionalise the exercise and formally communicate to vice-chancellors and heads of other tertiary institutions that participation was compulsory.”

The Minister confirmed that this policy aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s educational reforms, a key component of his Renewed Hope Agenda, being executed through the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative. He committed that the Federal Ministry of Education would supply the necessary “policy direction, funding and capacity-building support” to ensure the ranking exercise is credible, enduring, and effective. Alausa indicated that the ministry plans to collaborate with the committee to arrange “in-service training and institutional capacity-building programmes across tertiary institutions,” aiming for increased international recognition for Nigerian schools.

Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, the Minister of State for Education, hailed the initiative as “a significant step towards strengthening accountability and quality across Nigeria’s tertiary education system.” She emphasized the crucial role of healthy competition in prompting institutions to evaluate their own performance and rectify deficiencies. Professor Ahmad articulated, “Healthy competition is essential to encouraging institutions to assess their performance, address identified gaps and consistently improve the quality of education they provide.”

Professor Suwaiba further advocated for the inclusion of both public and private institutions in the ranking, asserting that such an exercise would create a framework for setting and upholding minimum standards throughout the sector. She noted its potential to assist institutions in comprehending their “strengths and weaknesses,” thereby fostering demonstrable improvements as the tertiary education landscape continues to grow.

Emeritus Professor Peter Okebukola, who chairs the ranking advisory committee and previously served as Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, explained that the committee's meeting with Minister Alausa was prompted by a memo. This memorandum commended the Tinubu administration for the rising global recognition of Nigerian universities. Professor Okebukola added that the committee had also urged for increased investment in university education to hasten this positive trend.

However, Professor Okebukola highlighted that Minister Alausa's response surpassed the committee's original suggestion by broadening NURAC's scope to encompass polytechnics and colleges of education. This led to NURAC's evolution into the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee. Okebukola voiced confidence that “sustained investment, stronger institutional capacity and the new national ranking framework” would empower more Nigerian institutions to achieve considerable advancements in global rankings. He believes this framework will assist Nigerian institutions to “compete confidently with leading institutions globally.”

This new policy emerges at a time when Nigeria's tertiary institutions are under increasing pressure to enhance their standing in global university rankings. These rankings consider various elements, including research output, academic reputation, citations, international outlook, and available institutional resources. While more Nigerian universities are now appearing in international rankings, persistent issues such as insufficient funding, limited research capabilities, poor infrastructure, staffing shortages, and the challenge of competing with better-resourced global universities remain. The government’s move to extend the national ranking system to polytechnics and colleges of education is anticipated to widen the scope of performance evaluation beyond just universities, fostering a more harmonized approach to monitoring quality and competitiveness across the entire tertiary education landscape.