To increase research in the country, the Ghanaian government is to offer scholarships to five PhD candidates at all universities in Ghana, under the country’s National Research Fund, President John Mahama has announced.

The Ghana National Research Fund came into being on 29 December 2020 under Act 1056 to provide funds to support research in all fields of national priority. Currently, the country has 50 higher institutions of learning, made up of 24 chartered universities, 16 traditional universities, and 10 public technical universities, according to data from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission.

At a media encounter on 10 September, Mahama said: “As part of our commitment to research excellence, we will offer full scholarships annually to five PhD candidates at every university in Ghana. By investing in our thinkers, we are investing in our future and asserting our intellectual sovereignty.”

Google has announced that university students in Nigeria and seven other African countries will receive free one-year subscriptions to its AI Pro plan, a move the company says is aimed at preparing the continent’s youth for an AI-driven economy. The initiative will begin with students in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. It targets individuals aged 18 and above enrolled in higher education institutions.

According to the company, beneficiaries will gain access to advanced AI tools, including Deep Research, which compiles research reports from hundreds of sources, and Gemini 2.5 Pro, designed to assist students with academic writing and assignments.

Google said in a statement that the programme aligns with its broader goal of equipping Africa’s youth with digital competencies. “Africa’s digital economy holds immense potential, and it will be driven by the talent and ingenuity of its next generation.

Chief Web Advocate at the World Wide Web Foundation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert, Nnenna Nwakanma, yesterday called on African universities to urgently address systemic challenges in education, including infrastructural gaps, limited funding, and outdated curricula that leave graduates ill-prepared for the job market.

Speaking at Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo in Ogun State, Founders’ Day lecture with the theme: ‘Legacy and Leadership Excellence: Building Enduring Institutions in Times of Change’, Nwakanma stressed that while Babcock has grown remarkably from just seven students and a handful of buildings to over 13,000 students and a teaching hospital, broader challenges confronting higher education in Africa persist.

“Education is under pressure here in Nigeria, across Africa, and across the world. Universities are overcrowded and under-resourced, funding remains inadequate, and too many graduates face unemployment or underemployment despite years of sacrifice,” she said.

School owners, education leaders, and stakeholders across Nigeria are mobilising 60,000 teachers for the upcoming “Let There Be Teachers” Conference, a gathering aimed at addressing longstanding challenges in the nation’s education sector.

Speaking at a strategic planning session on Wednesday, Mr Luyi Armstrong, General Secretary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, said the meeting brought together members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers and other key players to finalise plans for what could become a Guinness World Record event. The conference is scheduled to be held on September 20, 2025, at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

“This is a precursor to the event coming up next Saturday. We are excited that, for the first time in our country’s history, teachers will gather on such a scale to discuss their challenges and celebrate their contributions. All teachers are encouraged to attend,” Armstrong said.

Some academic staff of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) have been awarded patent rights by the Federal Government in recognition of their research and innovations. In a statement signed by the university’s Director of Media and Publicity, Ibrahim Sheme, NOUN said the patents highlight its growing reputation as a hub for solution-driven education.

Leading the awardees is Dr. Musa Runde of the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, who, in collaboration with colleagues across different faculties and institutions, secured two separate patents. One of the inventions, a Haeme Detector for Postpartum Hemorrhage Patients, was developed by Dr. Runde alongside Dr. Adaobi Mac-Ozigbo (Business Administration), Dr. Oyewole Oyelami Abiodun (Mathematics), and Mrs. Eunice Olokona Opeyemi (Nursing Sciences).

The device is designed to aid in the rapid detection and management of postpartum hemorrhage a leading cause of maternal mortality and has the potential to significantly reduce preventable maternal deaths in Nigeria and beyond.

In a bid to provide equal access to learning, especially early childhood education, Teachwise Family Daycare Ltd is providing teacher training, caregiver support, and community preschool services aimed at equipping underprivileged children for lifelong learning.

Founded to bridge gaps in access to early learning, Teachwise combines classroom preschools with mobile training units and community partnerships to serve families in urban slums and rural areas. The organisation focuses on three priorities; training educators, equipping parents with effective parenting techniques, and establishing affordable, high-quality early learning centers where needed.

According to the daycare, their mission extends beyond childcare; we aim to lay the groundwork for lifelong learning. Quality interactions in the early years significantly influence children’s futures. We train teachers in play-based, language-rich activities and coach parents to continue learning at home.

Since Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, assumed office in October 2024, he has rolled out reform after reform with bold headlines: nationwide CBT for national examinations, removal of unqualified teachers, a new curriculum, and, most recently, a directive warning schools to employ certified teachers or lose WAEC accreditation.

On paper, these moves suggest a long-awaited modernisation of Nigeria’s education system. In practice, they have been followed by public outcry, confusion, and hurried clarifications that reveal a lack of preparation. The result is a widening gap between policy announcements and on-ground realities—a gap that raises a crucial question: are these reforms educational in intent or largely political in execution?

Education reform cannot thrive on pronouncements alone. It requires systems, preparation, and accountability. Yet Nigeria’s current approach often begins with announcements that outpace reality. Take the recent teacher certification directive. Secondary schools are expected to meet 75 percent compliance with certified teachers by 2026 and 100 percent by 2027 or lose their WAEC certification.

The Kwara State Government has approved the immediate admission of visually impaired girls into Queen Elizabeth Secondary School, Ilorin, offering free education, feeding, and accommodation. In a statement on Thursday in Ilorin, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, said the initiative was to strengthen inclusivity in access to education.

Olohungbebe said that the policy reflects the government’s determination to reduce out-of-school children in the state. He said the initiative aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) four, which calls for inclusive and equitable quality education for all, without discrimination or barriers to learning.

The commissioner quoted Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as saying that the decision is a bold step to guarantee no child is left behind in Kwara. ”Every child, regardless of physical challenge, deserves quality education and opportunity,” AbdulRazaq said.

Gov. Abba Yusuf of Kano State has recruited 4,315 former BESDA volunteer teachers into permanent and pensionable teaching service. This is contained in a statement issued by the Governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Bature on Friday in Kano.

‎The Governor presented appointment letters to the newly recruited teachers at the Sani Abacha Indoor Stadium, where he urged them to uphold dedication, integrity, and character-building in their pupils. ‎Yusuf explained that the development built on his administration’s earlier approvals of 5,500 teachers in 2023, 5,632 in 2024, and 4,000 in May 2025.

He stated that all of them were absorbed into the state’s teaching workforce from the BESDA voluntary teaching scheme. Yusuf said these recruitments underscored his government’s consistent commitment to rescuing and reforming Kano’s education sector.

As the world grapples with a deepening teacher shortage, Nigeria stands at the epicentre of this educational catastrophe, threatening the foundation of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) for inclusive and quality education by 2030.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has sounded the alarm. Byi 2030, the globe will require an additional 44 million primary and secondary teachers to meet universal education targets, with attrition rates nearly doubling from 4.62 per cent in 2015 to 9.06 per cent in 2022.

In Nigeria, this crisis manifests in staggering out-of-school figures—estimated at 18.3 million children in 2024, representing one in five globally out-of-school youth—and a chronic shortfall of qualified educators. The call for an urgent teacher recruitment drive, enhanced welfare packages, and sweeping policy reforms to salvage the nation’s future is becoming even more strident and compelling if we are not to condemn generations to illiteracy and underdevelopment.

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has called for greater investment in the use of Ghanaian languages, as central to improving learning outcomes and creating a vital nexus for strengthening foundational education in the country.

“This signifies the link between local language and foundational learning, and we must invest in local Ghanaian languages. It also highlights the nexus between using local languages and improving foundational learning outcomes,” he said.

The minister explained that there was a strong link between local language and foundational learning and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening foundational learning through play-based methods and the use of local languages.

A University of Lagos professor, Chris Obisi, has raised concerns over the chronic lack of funding for academic research in Nigeria’s universities. Obisi, an expert in Employment Relations and Human Resource Management, voiced his worries during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday.

He warned that the shortage of funding is stifling innovation and progress in the nation’s academic institutions. The don lamented that many research findings generated by universities remain unused because industry players fail to invest in or support them.

He expressed dismay that while some companies are quick to sponsor reality TV shows like Big Brother Naija, they are reluctant to fund intellectual research in universities. “There should be more synergy between research, research outcomes, industry, and the university so that industry can be funding university and research outcomes, which some companies are not doing.