FG Launches Zero-Rated Educational Platforms, Moves to Regulate Internet Access for Under-16s

The Federal Government has launched a major digital education initiative to eliminate data costs for millions of learners accessing approved educational platforms in senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions across the country.

The initiative, known as the Initiative for Zero-Rated Access to Educational Platforms and Content in Nigeria, was launched on Thursday by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Alausa said the intervention was designed to ensure that poverty, location and the cost of internet connectivity would no longer prevent Nigerian learners from accessing quality educational content.

Speaking at the launch, the minister said the initiative went beyond providing connectivity, stressing that it was about putting learning within the reach of children who might otherwise be unable to afford the data required to access digital educational resources.

He noted that mobile phones, tablets and computers could effectively serve as classrooms, libraries and gateways to opportunities when the cost of connectivity was removed, particularly for learners from low-income families and underserved communities.

The minister said the initiative formed part of the broader transformation of the education sector under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), with digitalisation and data infrastructure at its core.

According to him, the Federal Ministry of Education is strengthening education planning and management through the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure, Digital Nigeria Education Management Information System and the Learner Identification Number.

Alausa, however, said the ultimate test of digital transformation was its impact on individual learners and the quality of education delivered.

The minister also disclosed plans for regulated internet access for children below the age of 16, as part of government measures to strengthen online child protection.

He said the welfare and dignity of Nigerian children must remain central to the country’s digital education drive, warning that government and other stakeholders must remain vigilant against cyberattacks and other forms of online harm.

Alausa said telecommunications connectivity had become increasingly important to education, just like classrooms, textbooks and laboratories.

He therefore called for sustained collaboration among the Ministry of Education, state governments, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), telecommunications operators, technology companies, development partners, educational institutions and teachers to make digital education accessible, safe and relevant.

The minister also urged the country to move beyond producing young people who merely consume technology to developing a generation capable of creating technology, innovating, solving problems and competing globally.

In his goodwill message, Chairman of the House Committee on Communications, Hon. Peter Akpatason, commended the NCC for the initiative, describing the high cost of data as one of the major barriers to learning in the digital age.

Akpatason reaffirmed the commitment of the House of Representatives to policies and legislation that would leverage technology to bridge the education gap, particularly for learners in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.

Similarly, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, stressed the need to ensure that no Nigerian child was excluded from access to knowledge and educational opportunities.

Dandutse commended the telecommunications industry for its contributions to education, including corporate social responsibility initiatives aimed at supporting children and expanding access to learning.

He said access to knowledge remained fundamental to Nigeria’s development and progress.

Alausa assured that the Federal Ministry of Education would continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the zero-rating initiative translated into lasting benefits for Nigerian learners.

He said the Federal Government remained committed to breaking barriers to learning, expanding opportunities and harnessing technology to build an education system where geography would not determine a child’s future and poverty would not prevent access to knowledge.

Ikharo Attah
Special Adviser (Media and Communications)
10th September , 2026