…Partners face test of sustaining learning gains as £-backed initiative ends after seven years
More than two million Nigerian children have been reached by a United Kingdom-funded education programme that also supported the training of over 25,000 teachers, raising the stakes for federal and state governments to sustain the learning gains following its closure.
The Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE), which worked to improve foundational literacy and numeracy and strengthen education systems across northern Nigeria, formally ended its programme at a close-out event in Kaduna on Wednesday.
Although the UK and its Nigerian partners celebrated the achievements, the central challenge is whether the government can sustain and expand the interventions after the programme’s closure, particularly in communities where children face barriers to quality education.
British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Pete Vowles, said the programme had demonstrated how collaboration among governments, teachers, communities and development partners could improve children’s access to education and the quality of learning.
“While we are celebrating the achievements of the programme today, the most important question is what happens next,” Vowles said.
He said the UK was encouraged that successful approaches were being adopted and scaled by Nigerian institutions, expressing confidence that the improvements could continue beyond the programme’s lifespan.
“PLANE is closing. The UK’s education partnership with Nigeria is not,” he said.
Funded by the UK and implemented by DAI, UNICEF, Save the Children and consortium partners, PLANE has supported education reform since 2019, working with policymakers and education stakeholders at the federal level and in Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno states.
Its interventions focused on foundational skills, education in emergencies and community-centred initiatives. The programme also supported stronger safeguarding systems to make schools safer for children and generated evidence on approaches capable of improving learning outcomes when implemented at scale.
The closure comes as Nigeria continues to grapple with the challenge of ensuring that children not only enrol in school but also acquire the literacy, numeracy and other foundational skills needed to progress through the education system.
For the governments and institutions involved, the next phase will require sustained funding, stronger implementation capacity and the integration of successful interventions into public education systems.
Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, who represented Governor Uba Sani at the event, acknowledged the UK government, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the British High Commission and the PLANE leadership and implementation teams for their contributions.
She said the programme had worked directly with state officials and communities, including those in remote areas, while strengthening the skills of teachers and public officers.
“You worked in our offices, in our local government areas, and in some of our most remote communities. Often under difficult conditions,” she said.
Balarabe said the programme’s support had helped build capacity over the past seven years, adding that the knowledge and skills acquired would remain with teachers and government officials after its closure.
Head of Development Cooperation at the British High Commission in Nigeria, Cynthia Rowe, said education remained one of the most important investments any country could make in its future.
She said PLANE’s achievements showed what could be accomplished when evidence, innovation and partnerships were aligned around a common objective.
“As the programme closes, we look forward to building on these successes through continued collaboration with government, schools, universities and communities across Nigeria,” Rowe said.
She added that the UK would continue to support opportunities for young Nigerians, from foundational learning in primary schools to higher education and advanced skills development.
As part of the visit, UK representatives also visited the College of Petroleum and Energy Studies in Kaduna, where partnerships between Nigerian institutions and UK universities are helping students develop advanced technical and professional skills.
The partnerships form part of the UK’s wider transnational education agenda, which seeks to strengthen cooperation between Nigerian and British institutions in teaching, research and skills development.
Since 2019, PLANE has worked across federal and state education structures, supporting foundational learning, education in emergencies and community participation in education.
Its reported reach of more than two million children and support for over 25,000 teachers provide a significant measure of its scale. However, the lasting impact will depend on whether the approaches can be maintained, adequately funded and extended to more schools and communities.
The programme’s closure therefore marks not only the end of a development initiative but also a test of institutional ownership: whether the policies, skills and systems developed through external support can continue delivering results under Nigerian leadership.
For millions of children whose futures depend on the quality of their education, the real measure of PLANE’s legacy will be whether better learning continues long after the programme has ended.
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