By JUMOKE OLAITAN

The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has called on publishers and other stakeholders in the book industry to submit textbooks and instructional materials for the 2026 Phase 1 assessment and ranking exercise.

This is contained ‎in a public notice issued on Friday in Abuja by the Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof. Salisu Shehu.

Shehu said the exercise followed a new policy by the Federal ‎Ministry of Education aimed at improving the book selection and approval process.

‎He said the 2026 assessment and ranking exercise would be conducted in three phases, covering primary, junior secondary and senior secondary school levels.

‎According to him, Phase 1 will cover Primary 1, Primary 4, JSS 1 and SS 1, while Phase 2 and Phase 3 will cover the remaining class levels.

‎He said all textbooks, including those previously assessed for the target class levels, must be resubmitted for assessment or reassessment in line with the new policy, which already introduced ranking into the approval process.

‎The executive secretary explained that all textbooks would first undergo assessment based on improved standards and newly approved benchmarks before being ranked.

‎He said submission for Phase 1 would commence on June 8 and end on June 19, 2026, warning that books submitted after the deadline would not be considered for the exercise.

‎Shehu added that payment for assessment and ranking would follow the newly approved procedure contained in the Book Quality Guidelines and Submission Procedure available on the NERDC website.

According to him, assessment and ranking of all submitted textbooks and instructional resources will be completed by July 31, 2026.

‎He urged publishers, authors, printers, distributors and other stakeholders in the book sector to comply with the guidelines and requirements for the exercise.

‎He also directed that all correspondence be addressed to the Executive Secretary, NERDC, Sheda, Abuja.‎(NAN)