UB research driving comprehensive educational reform in Nigeria

An ambitious plan to start an “educational revolution” in the Enugu State of Nigeria, adapting learning models developed at UB, has taken hold in a key region of Africa’s most populous nation.

Thanks to a Spencer Foundation Vision Grant, UB history professor Ndubueze Mbah’s mission to reform the state’s elementary and secondary school system using research as a guide is already producing tangible results, with more to come. The Vision Grant is a one-year, $75,000 planning grant awarded by the Spencer Foundation to support early-stage transformative education research.

As many as 260 Smart Green Schools have either been built or are under construction, all committed to making experiential learning the centerpiece of their curriculum, according to Mbah, associate professor of history and commissioner of education in Enugu. This combination of new schools and a project-based curriculum will serve approximately 260,000 children across the state.

“Now across the state, 260 Smart Green Schools are being constructed simultaneously,” says Mbah. “Some are already completed. Teachers are being trained. Students are being onboarded.”

This broad reform effort is taking place in a country confronting serious and widely recognized educational challenges. According to Mbah, these include inadequate infrastructure, acute teacher shortages, poor pupil-to-teacher ratios and a lack of qualified educators capable of delivering the basic curriculum while leveraging educational technologies.

These systemic barriers have produced what international agencies like the World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO and Nigeria’s Ministry of Education have called a “learning crisis,” regarded as the greatest threat to the country’s economic development.

“After four years of schooling, 50% of K-6 pupils cannot read a single word in English,” says Mbah. “Even those who can read often struggle with comprehension. After six years of schooling, half still cannot solve simple subtraction problems.”

When tasked with re-envisioning education for the state, Mbah turned to the Instructional Innovation team in UB’s Office of Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Transformation (CATT), and its PEARL Project Framework for Innovative Teaching.

Working with educators there, Mbah co-developed the Enugu Experiential Learning Curriculum, featuring innovation challenges that engage students in problem-solving around real-world issues, often using local materials and resources. Students learn through hands-on projects aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while developing 21st-century skills and competencies.

Piloted successfully at the Owo Smart Green School Campus in Enugu, the curriculum is now scaling rapidly, alongside construction of the 260 schools.

“The Vision Grant provides critical planning support for developing a transformative research model,” says Mbah. “We have seen impact already, but we need better ways to gather data, track outcomes and make adjustments as we go. That is what this grant enables.”

Because experiential learning is a new paradigm in the region, UB educators emphasize there is no established baseline and no existing system to assess its impact. But the signs of transformation are already visible, they say.

The Spencer Vision Grant funds development of a community-based participatory research model, with stories, interviews and firsthand reflections from students, teachers, parents and local leaders serving as a primary source of data. This is more than collecting stories, organizers say. The model aims to “build a methodology that is responsive, culturally grounded and capable of guiding training, professional development and continuous improvement.”

For Mbah, this is a rare example of “decolonial” research” — a model that centers the knowledge, priorities and visions of local communities rather than importing pre-set frameworks.

“This plan focuses on building local capacity,” he says. “It empowers communities to define what meaningful education looks like and co-creates a research model around it. That is exactly what the Spencer Foundation is supporting.”

Mbah sees this as just the beginning. Through development of a new Center for Experiential Learning and Innovation in Enugu, he envisions opportunities for UB faculty and students to contribute through residencies, fellowships and academic exchanges.

“UB can give, but also benefit,” he says. “This work opens the door for reciprocal partnerships that elevate both institutions.”

And with the possibility of a Spencer Transformative Research Grant — a potential multi-million-dollar follow-on grant — on the horizon, the team is already dreaming of what’s possible.