WorldStage— The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, announced plans for regulated internet access for children below the age of 16 as part of stronger measures to protect Nigerian children online.
According to the Minister, the plan is to place the wellbeing and dignity of Nigerian children at the centre of the country’s digital education drive.
He made the announcement while speaking in Abuja at the launch of the Initiative for Zero-Rated Access to Educational Platforms and Content in Nigeria, Alausa described the intervention as a decisive step towards ensuring that poverty, geography and the cost of connectivity no longer determine who gets access to quality learning.
He stated that the launch is a major digital education intervention under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which will remove data costs from access to approved educational platforms for millions of learners in senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
He noted that President Tinubu’s commitment to the welfare of every Nigerian child requires government and stakeholders to remain vigilant against threats in the digital environment, including cyber-attacks and other forms of online harm.
He disclosed that, at some point, there would be regulated internet access for every child below the age of 16 years as part of measures to strengthen online child protection.
For the Minister, the initiative goes beyond connectivity. It is about putting learning within reach of children who may otherwise be unable to afford the data required to access it.
He noted that a mobile phone, tablet or computer could become a classroom, library and gateway to opportunity when cost is no longer a barrier, particularly for learners from low-income households and communities where access to conventional educational infrastructure remains limited.
Dr. Alausa explained that the intervention is part of the broader transformation of Nigeria’s education sector through the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative, NESRI, with data and digitalisation at its core.
Through the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure, the Digital Nigeria Education Management Information System and the Learner Identification Number, the Ministry is strengthening the way education is planned, managed and delivered.
He stressed, however, that the real measure of digital transformation would be its ability to reach the learner and improve the quality of education.
