The Federal Government has placed a one-year ban on approving new polytechnics, monotechnics, and private universities in Nigeria.
This decision, announced by Education Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa, takes immediate effect.
The suspension applies to all new applications except for health institutions, which are exempted due to low student enrollment.
The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, confirmed this in a statement from Kaduna.
Institutions already under review must pay specific fees to proceed.
Polytechnics awaiting approval must pay N4 million as an application fee and N2 million per programme.
Monotechnics will be charged N2 million for application and N1 million per programme.
Payments must be completed within 30 days to avoid cancellation.
New health institutions must follow the same fee structure as monotechnics.
In a separate move, the education minister also halted approvals for new private universities.
Nigeria currently has 129 public universities and 149 private ones, yet private institutions enroll less than 10% of university students.
The government aims to improve the quality of higher education by ensuring that new institutions have the necessary resources before they are approved.
The National Universities Commission (NUC) will review pending private university applications to ensure they meet national education standards.
Updated guidelines for private university establishment will also be introduced.
The suspension may be extended if necessary, allowing time for reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s higher education system.
