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The Federal Government has increased annual admissions into nursing schools from about 20,000 to 50,000 as part of efforts to address the shortage of healthcare professionals and strengthen Nigeria’s health workforce.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed the development during an interview on Sunday, describing it as part of broader reforms aimed at producing the skilled manpower needed to support President Bola Tinubu’s target of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
According to the minister, the administration is prioritising human capital development by expanding access to professional education, particularly in critical sectors such as healthcare. He said enrolment into nursing schools has risen from about 20,000 before the current administration took office to approximately 50,000 annually.
Alausa added that admissions into medicine, pharmacy and dentistry have also been expanded to increase the country’s capacity to train healthcare professionals.
He expressed optimism that the expanded admission capacity would help bridge Nigeria’s healthcare workforce gap within the next few years as more qualified professionals enter the labour market.
The minister described education as a key pillar of the Federal Government’s economic agenda, noting that sustained investment in the sector would play a vital role in achieving long-term national development.
Speaking on the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Alausa said the scheme was designed to remain sustainable beyond the life of the current administration. He also said continuous engagement with academic and non-academic unions had restored stability to tertiary institutions across the country.
Nigeria has continued to face a shortage of nurses, doctors and other health professionals due to limited training capacity and the migration of skilled workers abroad in search of better pay and working conditions.
The government, however, maintains that expanding admissions into health-related programmes and investing in technical and vocational education will strengthen the country’s human capital base while positioning Nigeria as a major supplier of skilled professionals to the global workforce.
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