The Federal Government has introduced a virtual teaching initiative to connect pupils in underserved schools and communities lacking subject teachers with live instructors, as part of efforts to address manpower shortages and improve access to quality education across the country.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the initiative, known as Inspire Live, would enable pupils in primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools to participate in live, interactive lessons delivered remotely by qualified teachers.

He also disclosed that the government was strengthening teachers’ capacity through digital platforms, including Ignite, which provides educators with resources for lesson preparation, curriculum access and professional development.

Alausa made the disclosures during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday night, where he outlined the Federal Government’s technology-driven interventions to address some of the challenges confronting Nigeria’s education sector.

Using Kaura Namoda in Zamfara State as an example, the minister explained that pupils in schools without English Language teachers could access live lessons online according to a centrally prepared timetable.

He said the arrangement would allow schools to overcome the absence of teachers in particular subjects without necessarily waiting for additional personnel to be recruited or deployed to their locations.

“Any school, say you are in Kaura Namoda today and you don’t have an English teacher, you can go online and log on when that teacher will be teaching English. You can log on to it in an interactive way,” he said.

According to him, the platform covers subjects across the national curriculum, including English Language, Mathematics, Social Studies, Civic Education, Nigerian History, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Clarifying the scope of the programme, Alausa said, “Not almost every subject. Every subject that is in the curriculum.”

He explained that the lessons were curriculum-based and supported by an online timetable that would enable schools to identify when particular subjects were being taught and connect their pupils to the relevant instructors.

The minister said the platform was not limited to live teaching, as students could also access recorded lessons to reinforce their learning or catch up on classes they had missed.

“They will have recorded lessons. You just need to log on, and you get linked to a live teacher. You can also go and do a recorded lecture,” he stated.

To address concerns that poor internet access could undermine the initiative, the minister said the Federal Government had collaborated with the Nigerian Communications Commission to provide zero-rated data for students using the platform.

He explained that the arrangement would enable pupils to access lessons without incurring additional data costs, particularly those in rural and underserved communities where household resources could limit access to digital education.

“We have collaborated with the Nigerian Communications Commission. We have zero-rated data, free data, to log on to the site. You log on free, you get live teachers,” Alausa said.

He added that the platform contained other educational resources that pupils could use to supplement classroom instruction.

The minister, however, acknowledged the importance of providing schools with the necessary infrastructure to support digital learning, particularly as some communities still face challenges with electricity and internet connectivity.

Responding to concerns about pupils in places such as Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, where access to electricity and data could be limited, Alausa reiterated that the government had made provisions for free access to the platform.

He maintained that the intervention was intended to ensure that geographical location and the absence of teachers in particular subjects would not automatically deprive children of access to instruction.

Beyond deploying virtual instructors to address subject-teacher shortages, Alausa said the government was also investing in the professional development and capacity-building of existing teachers through digital platforms.

He identified Ignite as one of the initiatives designed to support teachers with the resources required to deliver effective lessons.

According to him, the cloud-based platform enables teachers to prepare lesson plans, consult curriculum materials and access resources that can improve classroom instruction.

“We are also supporting our teachers. We have Ignite, a cloud-based platform where teachers can go to help them prepare their lesson plans and look at the curriculum,” he said.

The minister described the interventions as a comprehensive approach to improving education, explaining that the government was addressing the needs of both learners and teachers rather than concentrating exclusively on students.

“So, it’s full support for teachers, support for children, support for teachers, support for the students,” he added.

Alausa further disclosed that the government was using digital platforms to promote continuous professional development among teachers, allowing them to improve their knowledge and teaching competencies.

He said the Federal Government was implementing a Teacher Preparedness Programme, which he claimed was supporting almost 50,000 teachers.

“At this moment, we’re running what we call a Teacher Preparedness Programme that we’re paying for almost 50,000 teachers,” he said.

Describing the initiative as a significant intervention in the teaching profession, Alausa said teachers were embracing the programme and benefiting from the additional support.

He said, “It’s been a remarkable, remarkable support for our teachers. They’re latching on to it.”

The minister’s comments highlight the government’s attempt to address two related challenges in the education sector: the inadequate availability of teachers in some schools and the need to improve the professional capacity of those already in the classroom.

The initiative comes amid persistent concerns over teacher shortages, uneven distribution of teaching personnel and overcrowded classrooms in Nigeria’s public education system.

Data from the Federal Ministry of Education’s Digital Nigeria Education Management Information System, obtained in August 2026, showed that 31,827,244 learners in public schools were being served by 592,077 teachers, translating to a national learner-teacher ratio of 53.8 to one.

The figures indicated that some states were facing considerably worse shortages, with Kano recording 88 learners per teacher, Katsina 87.4 and Imo 82.2.