The National President of the Association for Formidable Educational Development, AFED, Hon. Orji Emmanuel Kanu, says a new six-month certification programme will give Nigerian teachers without professional qualifications an opportunity to obtain the required certification while retaining their jobs.
The programme is being developed by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with key stakeholders, including AFED, under the Alternative Teachers Professional Pathway, ATPP.
Hon. Orji spoke during a three-day stakeholders’ workshop convened by the National Teachers’ Institute, NTI, in Abuja to finalise the delivery framework for the programme.
He said the initiative became necessary following the Federal Government’s directive that only professionally certified teachers should be allowed to teach in Nigerian schools.
Hon. Orji explained that some teachers affected by the policy are graduates of disciplines other than education who have acquired years of classroom experience.
He said:
“What about teachers who have been teaching? Some of them are graduates in other fields but not education. It is in respect of this that they started this. This is going to be a six-month programme.”
He said the programme would particularly provide an opportunity for teachers in low-cost private and non-state schools to acquire professional certification without necessarily losing their means of livelihood.
Professors from the Universities of Ilorin, Port Harcourt, Ahmadu Bello, Maiduguri and other institutions, as well as the Vice-Chancellor of MIVA Open University, are expected to coordinate aspects of the programme.
The workshop brought together key stakeholders, including the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, Dr. Ronke Soyombo, and the Director-General and Chief Executive of the National Teachers’ Institute, NTI, Prof. Sa’adiyya Sani-Daura.
It was held from September 2 to 4, 2026, under the ATPP Technical Working Group inaugurated by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad.
The Federal Government says the initiative is part of efforts to professionalise teaching and ensure that teachers in Nigerian schools meet the required professional and competency standards.
