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The certification of textbooks by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERD) costs N300 per page, and four copies must be submitted for assessment, which occurs irregularly and can take months or years. While NERDC approval grants access to Federal Government schools, getting state-level approval requires further steps across Nigeria's 36 states. Despite these procedures, unapproved textbooks lacking ISBN numbers infiltrate schools through corruption, bypassing regulations. Efforts to tackle piracy and enforce the use of approved books remain ongoing and vital for the education system's integrity.

An official of the Basic Education Community Schools from South Punjab was caught selling around 3,500 textbooks. He also blackmailed teachers in Pakpattan and Okara into paying him between Rs1,000-Rs1,500 for the delivery of books to the education warehouse. Reports state teachers complained several times to relevant education authorities but received no response.

Four Eastern Cape Department of Education officials and a businessman are facing charges of corruption, fraud, theft, and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act for R59 million meant for schoolbooks. Under the pretence that schools were adequately resourced with textbooks, they decided without permission from the National Treasury to shift and use 80% of the budget for the procurement of supplementary resource material, mainly IT equipment and photocopiers.

This video is made by IIPE-UNESCO, and aims to demonstrate the power of open data in education How can educational agents promote integrity and transparency in the education sector? Open school data is a powerful way to integrate the entire educational community: they share with the public information about school funding, student and teacher numbers, school equipment, textbooks, and test scores.