Funding allocated for the construction of new classrooms under the Federal Government’s World Bank-backed education programme has dropped by 55.3% after a restructuring of the $500 million HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All project.

A World Bank restructuring paper showed that allocations tied to the creation of new primary classrooms through community participation declined from $5.7 million to $2.55 million following changes to the Global Partnership for Education financing component of the programme.

The HOPE-Education programme was approved in March 2025 with a $500 million International Development Association credit and a $52.18 million GPE grant aimed at improving literacy, expanding access to education, and strengthening school systems across participating states.

According to the World Bank, the restructuring became necessary after Nigeria’s allocation under the GPE System Transformation Grant was reduced from $107.59 million to $53.98 million.

Classroom funding cut by over half

The restructuring document showed that funding for government-community agreements tied to classroom construction was reduced from $500,000 to $300,000.

Similarly, allocations linked to the delivery of 13,000 new classrooms fell sharply from $5.2 million to $2.25 million.

Despite the reduction in financing, the programme retained its target of constructing 13,000 new primary classrooms by June 2029.

The World Bank noted that the restructuring did not affect the programme’s development objectives, implementation arrangements, or closing date.

The lender also disclosed that the project became effective on February 26, 2026 and was still in the early stages of implementation.

Data from the report further showed that none of the $500 million IDA facility had been disbursed as of the restructuring date, leaving the entire amount undisbursed.