By The Editor
The Federal Government has issued a sweeping directive that secondary schools across Nigeria must employ only duly certified teachers or risk losing accreditation to host public examinations such as WASSCE, NECO, NABTEB, and SAISSCE.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the policy in a memo dated September 11, 2025, addressed to the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN). The directive, he said, is part of efforts to entrench professionalism and raise teaching standards in the country.
According to the new guidelines, beginning March 2027 for WASSCE, May 2027 for NABTEB, and June 2027 for both NECO and SAISSCE, any school that fails to meet the requirement of having teachers licensed by TRCN will automatically be disqualified as an examination centre.
“State Governments are therefore requested to take due cognizance of this directive and put in place necessary measures to ensure that all teachers in state-owned and private secondary schools obtain the requisite TRCN certification within two years from the date of this policy,” Alausa stated.
The policy stipulates that schools must achieve at least 75 percent compliance by 2026, with full compliance expected by 2027.
To ease compliance, the government has approved a pathway for non-education graduates with a minimum of one year classroom experience to enrol in an abridged professional certification programme through the National Teachers Institute (NTI). The short courses, lasting between three and six months, will qualify participants for TRCN registration and licensing.
The minister stressed that the policy must be given top priority and urged wide sensitization of stakeholders to forestall disruptions in the accreditation process for public examinations.
