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The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has uncovered 250 fake teaching certificates during a recruitment exercise in an unnamed state, as part of efforts to curb the circulation of forged credentials through QR-coded certificates and stricter digital verification.
The council’s Chief Executive and Registrar, Dr Ronke Soyombo, disclosed this on Thursday while monitoring the ongoing computer-based Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) at Redeemer’s TEAP International School in Abuja.
She said the council had introduced certificates embedded with Quick Response (QR) codes, allowing employers to access its portal and authenticate teachers’ credentials before offering them employment.
TRCN tightens teacher certification and recruitment process
Soyombo said the discovery of the forged certificates was made during a recruitment exercise in which an unidentified state government sought to employ about 1,000 teachers.
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She warned that the circulation of fraudulent teaching credentials posed a serious threat to education standards, stressing the need for employers to verify professional qualifications before recruitment.
The registrar explained that the QR-coded certificates would allow employers to confirm the authenticity of teachers’ credentials directly through the council’s digital platform, reducing the risk of employing individuals with forged documents.
She also said TRCN had strengthened the integrity of its qualifying examinations by introducing randomised questions tailored to candidates’ academic qualifications.
Under the system, candidates holding PhD degrees, first degrees and Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) qualifications receive different sets of questions, even when seated beside one another, to discourage examination malpractice.
FG targets 75% licensed teachers by end of 2026
Beyond efforts to eliminate fraudulent credentials, Soyombo said the Federal Government had set a target for 75% of teachers to be licensed by the end of 2026, while requiring all teachers to be certified before entering classrooms by December 2027.
- She commended the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, for supporting the mandatory professional certification drive.
- According to her, holding a first-class degree alone does not qualify an individual to teach without demonstrated competence in pedagogy, child safeguarding and digital literacy.
Soyombo also disclosed that previous assessments under the PQE had revealed widespread weaknesses in mathematics among teachers across the country.
FG steps up efforts to regulate teaching profession
The discovery of fake teaching certificates comes amid broader Federal Government efforts to strengthen professional standards, verify teachers’ qualifications and improve accountability across Nigeria’s education system.
- In September 2025, Nairametrics reported that the Federal Government had introduced a mandatory Teacher Ethics and Criminal Record Verification Framework requiring teachers in public and private schools to undergo background checks before employment. The framework was designed to curb impersonation, certificate forgery and the recruitment of unqualified teachers.
- Also in September 2025, the Federal Government announced that secondary schools without TRCN-certified teachers would lose accreditation to serve as public examination centres from 2027.
The policy set a minimum compliance target of 75% by 2026 and full compliance by 2027, with provisions for non-education graduates to obtain professional certification through the National Teachers Institute. Read more.
The government’s emphasis on verification has also extended to teacher recruitment into the public service. In August 2026, Nairametrics reported that the FG had approved the recruitment of 3,252 verified Parent-Teacher Association teachers into the federal public service.
