Funding For New Classrooms Drops As FG, World Bank Restructure $500m HOPE-EDU Loan
Funding for the construction of new classrooms under the Federal Government’s World Bank-backed basic education programme has dropped.
Funding for the construction of new classrooms under the Federal Government’s World Bank-backed basic education programme has dropped.
Funding for the construction of new classrooms under the Federal Government’s World Bank-backed basic education programme has dropped by 55.3 per cent following a major restructuring of the $500 million HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All (HOPE-EDU) project.
A restructuring document from the World Bank showed that allocations for community-driven construction of new primary classrooms fell sharply from $5.7 million to $2.55 million, after changes to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) financing component of the programme.
The HOPE-EDU initiative, approved in March 2025, is backed by a $500 million International Development Association (IDA) credit from the World Bank and a $52.18 million GPE grant. It is designed to improve literacy outcomes, expand access to basic education, and strengthen school systems across participating states.
According to the World Bank, the restructuring became necessary after Nigeria’s allocation under the GPE System Transformation Grant was reduced from $107.59 million to $53.98 million.
The document further showed that funding tied to government-community agreements for classroom construction was cut from $500,000 to $300,000, while allocations linked to the delivery of 13,000 new classrooms also dropped significantly from $5.2 million to $2.25 million.
Despite the reduction, the project maintained its original target of delivering 13,000 new primary school classrooms by June 2029.
The World Bank noted that the restructuring did not alter the programme’s development objectives, implementation arrangements, or closing date. It also disclosed that the project only became effective on February 26, 2026 and remains in its early implementation phase.
Data from the report showed that none of the $500 million IDA credit has been disbursed as of the restructuring date, leaving the full facility undrawn.
While classroom-related financing was reduced, the scope of the programme has expanded in some areas. The World Bank said Results Area 1 will now cover 33 states, up from the initial 30 states.
Abia, Bauchi and Kwara have been added to the list of beneficiary states under the revised arrangement.
The report also revealed that the Federal Government proposed a change in how the reduced GPE allocation would be administered, following UNICEF’s exit from co-management of part of the funding structure.
As stated in the document:“the Government of Nigeria proposed the reduced allocation be managed entirely by the World Bank through HOPE-Education, while requesting the addition of three states previously endorsed to receive support through the UNICEF STG funding amount.”
The programme is expected to benefit 19.48 million primary school pupils and bring 2.86 million out-of-school children into both formal and non-formal literacy programmes by 2029.
It also targets improved education data systems, including the digital publication of annual school census reports across 35 states before the end of the project cycle.
In contrast to cuts in infrastructure spending, the restructuring increased funding for learning inputs and school support mechanisms.
New disbursement-linked indicators were introduced to ensure that at least 80 per cent of public primary schools in participating GPE states are equipped with adequate literacy and numeracy materials for both lower and upper primary levels.
As a result, allocations for teaching and learning materials rose from $6.67 million to $10.99 million, while funding for annual school grants increased from $4.73 million to $7.87 million. Allocations for annual school census reporting also rose from $4.45 million to $5.68 million.
However, funding linked to literacy and numeracy proficiency indicators declined from $7.93 million to $5.06 million, while support for non-formal basic education programmes targeting out-of-school children fell from $1.73 million to $1.28 million.
The Federal Government had earlier launched the HOPE-EDU reform initiative, backed by a combined $552.18 million from the World Bank and GPE, aimed at addressing structural challenges in Nigeria’s basic education sector.
According to the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, the programme is designed to confront long-standing deficiencies in access, quality, and learning outcomes across the country’s public basic education system.
