Professor Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa’i
Federal Minister of Education
Biography
Professor Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa’i was appointed Nigerian minister of Education on 6 April 2010, when President Goodluck Jonathan announced his new cabinet. She was Commissioner for Health under the military regime of General Sani Abacha between 1993 and 1996. She was promoted professor in 2003, and served as Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology in Jigawa State.
Joined Commonwealth: 1960 (suspended 1995-99) 
Population: 154,729,000 (2009)
GDP p.c. growth: 1.7% p.a. 1990-2009
UN HDI 2010: world ranking 142
Net primary enrolment: 62.8% (2007)
Net secondary enrolment: 25.8% (2008)
Adult literacy: 60.8% (2009)
There are nine years of compulsory education starting at age six. Net enrolment ratios are 62.8% for primary (2007) and 25.8% for secondary (2008), and gross enrolment ratio for all levels combined 50.7% (2007). The pupil-teacher ratio for primary is 46:1 and for secondary 28:1 (2008). The school year starts in September.
At the end of the three-year senior secondary course, students sit for the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations. These are managed by the West African Examinations Council, which was established in 1952 by four Commonwealth governments, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, with its headquarters in Accra, Ghana.
By June 2011, the National Universities Commission had accredited 36 federal universities, 36 state universities, and 45 private universities, including four federal universities of technology, three federal universities of agriculture and the National Open University of Nigeria. Literacy among people aged 15-24 is 72% (2009).
Since the return to civilian rule, the government has encouraged private participation in education, and this has resulted in the establishment of many new private primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
Nigeria is one of the 35 countries implementing the UNESCO Literacy Initiative for Empowerment, an initiative aimed at achieving the targets of the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012). The country also participates in the ten-year UNESCO Teacher Training Initiative for sub-Saharan Africa, which will assist the continent’s 46 sub-Saharan countries in restructuring national teacher policies and teacher education.
