The Federal Government has directed that from 2027, secondary schools with unqualified teachers will no longer be accredited as examination centres for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
The directive, issued by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, in a memo to the Registrar of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), is part of efforts to strengthen professionalism and raise standards in the teaching profession.
According to the memo, accreditation of both public and private secondary schools for public examinations including WASSCE, NECO, National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), and National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) will henceforth be tied to teachers’ TRCN certification.
Dr. Alausa urged state governments to take note of the directive and implement measures to ensure compliance across public and private schools within the next two years.
To ease compliance, the Minister advised teachers who are non-education graduates but have at least 12 months of classroom teaching experience to enrol in the National Teachers’ Institute for certification.
Writing by Gladys Haruna