The Federal Government has announced that from 2027, only secondary schools with certified teachers will be accredited to serve as centres for public examinations.
The directive was issued in a memo by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, to the Registrar/Chief Executive of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
According to Alausa, the move aligns with government policy to strengthen professionalism and quality assurance in the teaching profession.
Accreditation tied to TRCN certification
The minister explained that, starting from 2027, schools whose teachers lack certification from TRCN will be disqualified from conducting national examinations, including WASSCE, NABTEB, NECO, and NBIAS.
“Accordingly, effective from March 2027 for WASSCE, May 2027 for NABTEB, June 2027 for NECO and June 2027 for SAISSCE, any school whose teachers are not duly registered and licensed with the TRCN shall be disqualified from serving as an examination centre,” Alausa said.
He also directed state governments to align with the policy and ensure necessary measures are put in place for compliance in both public and private schools.
The government set a two-year compliance window to allow schools and teachers to meet the new requirements.
“Compliance with this directive shall be monitored, with schools expected to achieve a minimum compliance rate of 75 per cent by 2026 and full compliance of 100 per cent by 2027,” the minister stated.
This means that by 2026, schools will need to demonstrate significant progress, or risk eventual disqualification from accreditation.
Pathways for non-education graduates
To ensure teachers have sufficient opportunity to regularize their qualifications, the government has made provisions for an abridged certification route.
Alausa advised that teachers who are non-education graduates but have at least 12 months of classroom teaching experience should enrol in the National Teachers Institute (NTI).
He explained that the affected teachers could qualify for the abridged professional certification programme offered through the National Teachers Institute (NTI).
The NTI programme consists of professional short courses lasting between three to six months, after which participants can register and obtain licensing from TRCN.
The Minister urged education stakeholders to take the directive seriously and ensure proper awareness campaigns are conducted nationwide.
He stressed that schools must prioritize compliance to avoid disruptions in the accreditation process for public examinations.
He added that teachers and school administrators should give the directive the highest priority and ensure wide sensitisation of stakeholders across the country so as to avoid disruption of accreditation for public examinations.
What you should know
Last month, the Federal Government rolled out a digital portal under the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) to simplify the process of registration, licensing and renewal of credentials for teachers. The platform was also designed to handle professional development, ethical verification, and the scheduling of TRCN’s Professional Qualifying Examination.
In the update, TRCN confirmed that the PQE had been streamlined from 23 subjects to five core areas including foundational mathematics, literacy, pedagogy, digital literacy and safeguarding.
Nairametrics reported that the government introduced a new mandatory ethics and criminal record screening framework for teachers nationwide. The measure, which is integrated into the TRCN portal, seeks to eliminate cases of impersonation, certificate forgery and the employment of unqualified teachers in both public and private schools.
