In a country where private tutoring has long been an unwritten law for academic excellence, a new wave of change is happening. With smartphones, the internet, and affordable data within reach of millions, educational apps are transforming how Nigerian students learn. Replacing one-on-one home lessons with digital learning platforms.
Trusted by many parents, Tuteria bridges the gap between qualified tutors and students. They offer a wide range of courses ranging from mathematics, English, coding, music, and languages (French, Igbo, German, and Chinese).
Founded by Godwin Benson and Abiola Oyeniyi in 2015, the Tuteria educational app offers personalised learning for kids and adults.
With Tuteria, parents and students have access to a network of tutors who can independently set their hourly or monthly rates. However, to ensure safety and accountability, Tuteria monitors all transactions— receiving payments upfront and releasing them only after confirming that the lesson has been successfully taught.
ScholarX is a major player in the educational apps sector of Nigeria. Starting as a scholarship aggregation platform helping African students find global funding opportunities, today, it has expanded into an online tutoring platform in Nigeria while still hosting micro-scholarship programs to make quality education affordable for low-income families.
With a target audience of university students and young professionals, ScholarX offers a diverse range of technical and professional courses, including digital marketing, graphic design, cybersecurity, programming, and many more.
Beyond traditional learning, the platform also features:
- QuickStaff: A corporate upskilling solution designed to help companies train or retrain their employees efficiently at any time.
- LearnAm: A multilingual mobile learning platform that provides courses and educational content in English, Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo.
Founded by Sim Shagaya, Ulesson is an edtech on a mission to bring world-class education into African classrooms. The educational app offers interactive video lessons, quizzes, and live classes primarily designed and structured for the Nigerian and West African syllabus.
For as low as #50,000 annually, students from primary to secondary schools can stream or download video lessons, practice questions, and join live sessions led by professional teachers.
Prepclass started as a platform connecting learners to verified tutors for home lessons. Over time, it has developed into a hybrid platform offering both in-person tutoring and digital learning.
Boasting a database of over 50,000 verified tutors, Prepclass allows parents to easily enrol their children — from primary to secondary school — for home lessons or virtual learning. Each tutor is carefully vetted to ensure subject mastery, teaching skill, and professionalism.
With three physical learning centres located in Lagos, Nigeria, the platform provides an environment for learners preparing for local and international exams such as IELTS, GMAT, GRE, and SAT.
Though not a Nigerian startup, Outschool has become increasingly popular among Nigerian parents seeking global exposure and flexible, interest-based learning for their children. The platform offers over 1,000 live and recorded classes, ranging from traditional academic subjects to enrichment courses like coding, robotics, creative writing, and public speaking.
The educational app focuses on interactive, small-group learning. Each live class connects learners with expert educators around the world, maintaining an average 5:1 student–teacher ratio.
Outschool operates a credit-based subscription model with flexible pricing plans:
- Free trial: 80 credits at $40/month (#58,859.60)
- 145 credits at $70/month (#103,004.30)
- 268 credits at $120/month (#176,578.80)
- With the highest plan being 1,440 credits at $600 (#882,894.00)
Final thoughts
Although private tutoring will never completely disappear, the future of personalised learning and private tutoring in Nigeria is digital. These educational apps combine convenience, affordability, and quality, granting them access to education anywhere and anytime.
With Africa’s e-learning market projected to reach $7.7 billion by 2033, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 9.12% during 2025-2033 (IMARC Group 2024), and Nigeria a major player with hundreds of millions in local investment and adoption, platforms like Tuteria, ScholarX, uLesson, Prepclass, and Outschool are setting the pace for Africa’s next educational revolution.
