Beginning from 2027, secondary schools in the country whose teachers are not certified by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) will disqualified from serving as centres for public examinations, according to a new policy directive issued by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on Thursday.
The minister said the directive is in line with the government’s policy to strengthen professionalism in the teaching profession.
In a memo addressed to the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the TRCN, Dr. Alausa said “the accreditation of both Public and Private Secondary Schools for the conduct of public examinations, WASSCE, NABTEB, NECO, & NBIAS shall henceforth be contingent on the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) certification of teachers engaged in such schools”.
“Accordingly, effective from March 2027 for WASSCE, May 2027 for NABTEB, June 2027 for NECO & 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,” he said.
The minister requested state governments “to take due cognizance of this 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 (2) years from the date of this policy directive”.
“Compliance with this directive shall be monitored, with schools expected to achieve a minimum compliance rate of 75% by 2026 and full compliance of 100% by 2027,” he said.
To ease the process and ensure that teachers have ample opportunity to regularise their qualifications, the minister encouraged teachers who are non-education graduates but possess at least 12 months of classroom teaching experience to enrol in the abridged professional certification programme offered through the National Teachers Institute (NTI).
The NTI programme consists of short professional courses lasting between three and six months, after which participants will qualify for TRCN registration and licensing.
He further directed all concerned to give the matter the highest priority and ensure wide sensitisation of stakeholders across the country so as to “avoid disruption of accreditation for public examinations”.
