In a decisive move to reform Nigeria’s education sector, the Federal Government has announced that secondary school teachers must obtain proper certification from the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN). Failure to comply, it warned, would disqualify schools from serving as centers for national examinations.

In a policy directive issued yesterday and addressed to the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of TRCN, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, declared, “The Federal Ministry of Education has directed that, to strengthen professionalism in the teaching profession, the accreditation of both public and private secondary schools for the conduct of public examinations, such as WASSCE, NABTEB, NECO, and NBIAS, shall henceforth be contingent on the TRCN certification of teachers engaged in such schools.”

The directive further spelt out the timelines for enforcement, stating, “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 center.”

Alausa also called on states to act promptly, saying, “State governments are therefore requested to take due cognizance of the directive and put in place necessary measures to ensure that all teachers in state-owned secondary schools and private secondary schools obtain the requisite TRCN certification within the stipulated two years from the date of this policy directive.”

The memo equally outlined compliance measures, noting, “Compliance with this directive shall be monitored, with schools expected to achieve a minimum compliance rate of 75 percent by 2026 and full compliance of 100 percent by 2027.”

To ease the transition, the government provided an alternative pathway for certain teachers. The directive explained, “Teachers who are non-education graduates but possess not less than 12 months of classroom teaching experience are encouraged to enroll in the abridged professional certification program offered through the National Teachers Institute (NTI).”

The policy concluded with a clear directive to education stakeholders: “This matter should be given the highest priority, and wide sensitization of stakeholders across the country should be ensured.