By Stephen Simon
The Federal Government has announced that Nigerian students will receive 100 v ccc c cccccccc vvgl mmmegabytes of free daily internet data from October 1, 2026, to access approved educational websites and digital learning platforms.
The initiative, developed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in collaboration with telecommunications operators and the Federal Ministry of Education, will initially target students in public senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the commencement date on Thursday in Abuja at the launch of the Initiative for Zero-Rated Access to Educational Platforms and Content in Nigeria.
Alausa said the programme was designed to remove the cost of internet data as a barrier to digital education, particularly for students from low-income households. He said the government’s ambition was to ensure that no Nigerian learner was denied access to quality educational content because of an inability to afford data.
Under the framework, participating mobile network operators will provide eligible students with a daily 100MB zero-rated data allowance for use on educational websites and platforms approved by the Federal Ministry of Education and the NCC.
NCC Director of Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis, Ayuba Shuaibu, said approved platforms would include learning management systems, digital libraries, educational repositories, teacher-development platforms, and technical and vocational training resources.
He said the initial rollout would cover public secondary and tertiary institutions, while the initiative would subsequently be extended to other categories of learners. The framework, he added, incorporates safeguards relating to cybersecurity, consumer and child protection, data protection, fair competition, inclusivity and net neutrality.
The NCC Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, said millions of students were currently unable to use digital learning resources because of affordability challenges, adding that the initiative was intended to ensure that neither location nor household income prevented learners from accessing educational content.
The programme is being supported by major telecommunications operators, including MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria and Globacom, with the NCC saying the operators had committed to providing the free data allowance for access to approved platforms.
Alausa also disclosed that the government was developing measures to regulate internet access for children below 16, with emphasis on ensuring that online educational content available to young learners is appropriate, credible, safe and consistent with national curriculum objectives.
He further said the government was expanding the digitalisation of the education sector through initiatives including the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure, Digital Nigeria Education Management Information System and the Learner Identification Number. More than 240,000 schools, he added, had already been geo-mapped and geolocated nationwide.
