The Federal Government has announced plans to phase out the use of chalkboards in Nigerian schools by 2027.

The move is aimed at modernising classroom teaching and ensuring every school in the country is equipped with smart boards in line with global education standards.

Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, disclosed this during a ministerial roundtable meeting in Abuja.

He said the initiative reflects President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to bridging the digital divide in the education sector.

According to him, the government has already started introducing technology-driven learning tools to classrooms across the country.

“We’ve also launched a smart board, two weeks ago,” he said. “Our goal is that by 2027, every school in Nigeria will have a smart board. This is how we can cascade high-quality education to every child, irrespective of where they live, their background, or their parents’ social status.”

Dr. Alausa explained that the smart boards will gradually replace traditional chalkboards, making classrooms more interactive and engaging. Teachers will be able to use multimedia content, digital textbooks, and real-time learning tools to improve participation and understanding among students.

He also revealed that over 60,000 tablets have been distributed to pupils in Adamawa, Oyo, and Katsina States through the Airtech (Amazon Web Services) and BESDA programmes, with an additional 30,000 devices expected to arrive soon.

The minister added that from 2026, the annual school census would be fully digitalised to allow for real-time monitoring of data and educational outcomes.

While addressing concerns about the country’s rising dropout rate, Alausa said data from the digitised Nigeria Education Management Information System (NEMIS) had revealed a disturbing trend.

“The information we’re seeing on that digital platform is scary,” he said. “From the 21 states that have uploaded their data, we have about 30 million children in primary schools. From primary to Junior Secondary School (JSS 1), that number drops between 10 and 20 million children. We can’t find them. Then, from Junior Secondary to Senior Secondary, another four million have disappeared. It’s scary.”

He noted that about 24 million children who began primary school were unable to continue to senior secondary level — a situation he described as a major threat to Nigeria’s human capital development.

To tackle this, Alausa said the Ministry of Education has started uploading the biometrics of every pupil on a digital platform to improve tracking, planning, and evidence-based policymaking.

“It’s not manual anymore. Paper will be taken out completely,” he stated, adding that data from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) will soon be integrated into the system.

He thanked the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for its technical support and praised President Tinubu for backing the digital transformation drive in education.

Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Aisha Garba, also said the commission had fully embraced technology in its operations, classroom delivery, and ongoing efforts to digitalise all public schools across the country.