(Education Minister, Dr Tunji Alausa. Photo by X/Pulse Nigeria)
Nigeria’s government has announced that students will get free data starting October 1 to access educational websites and learning platforms.
From that date, students in public senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions will receive 100MB of free data daily.
They can use it to access approved learning management systems, digital libraries, educational resources, teacher development platforms and vocational education materials without being charged for the data.
The initiative is designed to help students, especially those from low-income families, who can’t afford internet data to access digital learning resources.
The government’s goal is to make sure no Nigerian student is blocked from getting quality educational content because they can’t pay for data.
The programme is being run by the Nigerian Communications Commission working with the Federal Ministry of Education and telecommunications companies.
Mobile operators including MTN, Airtel and Globacom are supporting it by providing the free daily allowance.
The communications commission and education ministry will decide which platforms qualify for the zero-rated access.
The government said the free data for about five million students represents roughly 180 billion naira in data value annually.
The initiative is part of the government’s broader push to digitally transform the education sector.
The government has also geo-mapped and geolocated over 240,000 schools to improve education planning and data management.
The programme will start with senior secondary and tertiary students but will be expanded to other learners later.
