Key points
- The Federal Government and the World Bank have restructured the $500 million HOPE-Education programme following a reduction in Global Partnership for Education funding.
- Funding allocations for classroom construction were significantly reduced, although the target of building 13,000 classrooms remains unchanged.
- The revised arrangement expands the number of participating states from three to six, including Abia, Bauchi and Kwara.
Main story
The Federal Government and the World Bank have restructured the $500 million HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All (HOPE-Education) programme, reducing funding allocations for classroom construction while expanding the number of states benefiting from targeted interventions.
Details of the restructuring were contained in a World Bank restructuring paper dated May 20, 2026, published on the bank’s website.
According to the document, the restructuring became necessary following a significant reduction in Nigeria’s allocation under the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) System Transformation Grant.
The World Bank disclosed that Nigeria’s GPE funding allocation was reduced from $107.59 million to $53.975 million, forcing adjustments across several components of the programme.
“Originally, co-grant agents, the World Bank and the United Nations Children’s Fund, were selected to each manage half of the initial STG funding allocation. However, with the reduced GPE financing, the Government of Nigeria proposed that the reduced allocation be managed entirely by the World Bank through HOPE-Education,” the report stated.
The HOPE-Education programme, approved by the World Bank Board on March 31, 2025, is financed through a $500 million International Development Association (IDA) credit and an additional $52.18 million GPE grant.
Under the revised framework, allocations tied to the construction of 13,000 new classrooms under Disbursement Linked Indicator (DLI) 4 were significantly reduced.
The allocation for government-community agreements supporting classroom construction in 15 states dropped from $500,000 to $300,000, while funding for the actual construction of the classrooms was reduced from $5.2 million to $2.25 million.
Despite the reduction in financing, the overall target of delivering 13,000 classrooms across participating states remains unchanged.
The World Bank clarified that the restructuring does not affect the programme’s development objectives, implementation arrangements or closing date.
“There are no changes to the Program Development Objective, closing date, or institutional arrangements. This is the first restructuring of the operation,” the bank noted.
As part of the revised arrangement, the number of states eligible for targeted interventions under Results Area 1 increased from three to six, with Abia, Bauchi and Kwara joining Akwa Ibom, Kebbi and Lagos as GPE-supported states.
The restructuring also introduced adjustments across several funding indicators covering teaching and learning materials, teacher mentoring, literacy and numeracy assessments, school grants and annual school census reporting.
Under DLI 1, which focuses on teaching and learning materials, the bank introduced a new allocation of $7.419 million to ensure that 80 per cent of public primary schools in GPE-supported states have sufficient learning materials for pupils in Grades 1 to 3.
Another $3.569 million allocation was approved for learning materials targeting Grades 4 to 6.
However, allocations linked to structured pedagogy practices among teachers under DLI 2 were reduced from $14.866 million to $12.664 million after some indicators were adjusted downward and one performance indicator removed entirely.
Similarly, funding tied to literacy and numeracy proficiency under DLI 3 dropped from $7.934 million to $5.06 million following the removal of a $3.9 million allocation connected to improving literacy and numeracy outcomes in IDA-supported states.
Funding aimed at addressing out-of-school children under DLI 5 also declined from $1.733 million to $1.283 million.
In contrast, allocations for annual school grants under DLI 7 rose significantly from $4.73 million to $7.865 million, while funding for annual school census reporting under DLI 8 increased from $4.45 million to $5.676 million.
The World Bank added that the restructuring would require adjustments to verification protocols for GPE-supported states, although verification processes for IDA-financed states would remain unchanged.
According to the bank, the programme is designed “to improve foundational learning outcomes, increase access to basic education and enhance education systems in participating States.”
The programme became effective on February 26, 2026, with the World Bank noting that implementation has already shown “early progress.”
The issues
Nigeria continues to grapple with significant challenges in its education sector, including inadequate infrastructure, teacher shortages, poor learning outcomes and a growing number of out-of-school children. The reduction in international grant financing raises concerns over the sustainability of planned interventions, particularly classroom expansion projects.
What’s next
The Federal Government and the World Bank are expected to continue implementing the revised HOPE-Education programme across the six participating states, with increased focus on learning materials, school grants and education system strengthening despite the reduced grant financing.
Bottom line
Although funding cuts have affected classroom construction allocations under the HOPE-Education programme, the Federal Government and the World Bank insist the restructuring will sustain ongoing education reforms and improve access to quality basic education across participating states
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