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Nigeria recognizes the need to provide secondary education on a larger scale and build on the primary education gains connected to the millennium development goals and education for all initiatives. However, while primary schools are widespread, with near equal numbers of boys and girls enrolled, secondary schools remain scarce, are mostly in large rural settlements and urban areas, and enroll fewer girls than boys and too few poor and disadvantage children. Although secondary education is the level from which most youth will enter the labour force, it is still largely conceptualized as a route to tertiary education and has relatively high per student costs compared to primary education. While recognizing the challenges facing tertiary education in Nigeria, CPED’s research programme during the phase 2 of TTI support will be predominantly on secondary education which is obviously the bedrock of the education system. Research gaps on secondary education in Nigeria that need answers including: how to increase demand, improve teacher skills, promote employment-relevant skills, and support alternative models of learning for learners in low-income settings. There is therefore an urgent need to support and build the evidence base for new models that deliver quality, relevant, and accessible secondary learning to often-neglected populations, including the poor, girls, those living with disabilities, those in areas affected by conflict, and other disadvantaged groups. CPED’s research programme aims to address key evidence and knowledge gaps including research on increasing demand for learning at the secondary level improving teacher effectiveness and promoting employment-relevant skills. The research programme aims to increase Nigeria policy makers and other stakeholders’ knowledge of evidence-based policies and programmes that improve secondary education which in turn can facilitate the enhanced uptake of such policies and programme. A number of intervention programmes will be carried out in collaboration with partners in localities where research is carried out.