In a groundbreaking move to revive teacher education in Nigeria, Colleges of Education owned by the Federal Government will start awarding degrees and certificates of Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) from the September/October 2025 academic session. This double mandate comes in the wake of the Federal Colleges of Education Act 2023, which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed into law shortly after assuming office. The reform is expected to address some of the most significant challenges facing colleges of education, especially falling admission and the growing perception of obsolescence of such critical institutions.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, made this disclosure in a stakeholders’ follow-up meeting in Abuja. He stated that the concurrent running of degree and NCE programmes would be pivotal to the survival and sustainability of these institutions, which have witnessed appalling drops in student enrollment over the years. In Alausa’s opinion, without the urgent implementation of this dual mandate, the nation’s colleges of education risk falling into oblivion.
The Background to the Dual Mandate Policy
The transition to allow Federal Colleges of Education to confer degrees and NCE certificates concurrently did not arrive suddenly. In 2023, the bill faced intense deliberations in some committees and stakeholders before being signed into law. The goal was to commence operations in 2024/2025. Practicalities and the need for adequate preparations, however, meant a revised launching time of September/October 2025.
Under the Federal Colleges of Education Act 2023, federal colleges that were ten years and above in age were selected to lead the way in launching the program. This conservative selection leaves only experienced institutions with the infrastructure and manpower needed to carry the dual burden.
The twin mandate is intended to capture a variety of strategic objectives: increasing access to teacher training, enhancing the quality of teachers produced, increasing enrollment numbers, and the stature of Nigeria’s colleges of education. Traditionally regarded as the core of Nigeria’s teaching inventory, these colleges have experienced poor appeal from potential entrants and thus the need for reforms.
For Alausa, the double certification plan was not only a matter of sustaining institutions but one of enhancing the quality of education across the country. “The only way to save the colleges from becoming extinct is through the total adoption of the double mandate as dictated by the new law,” he was adamant.
Confronting the Enrolment Crisis
The Minister presented a bleak picture of the current enrolment situation, laying bare statistics that underscore the urgent need for reforms. Out of over two million contestants that took the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organized by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in 2024, only 500,000 to 550,000 found admission into tertiary institutions, while approximately 1.5 million were denied placement.
Alarmingly, fewer than 1,000 of admitted students opted for Federal Colleges of Education, representing a severe drop in the popularity of the institutions. Alausa had referred to the experience as a national shame, noting that even with the availability of close to 800 members of staff within some of the colleges, the student population usually hardly exceeded 1,000.
There is no college of education today that should have less than 30,000 students,” Alausa insisted. “From what I have observed, not one Federal College of Education has as many as 20,000 students. It’s shameful.”
He emphasized that given Nigeria’s enormous population and need for education, the state of the colleges could not hold. The need to convert colleges of education into viable institutions producing qualified teachers is central to national growth. Education, he once again asserted, continues to be an integral engine for development and innovation, and any compromise on the training of teachers has an impact on the wider national prospect.
The Minister noted that stakeholders like the National Universities Commission (NUC) and JAMB had already made their contributions prior to the commencement of the new paradigm of education. NUC designed detailed guidelines for the implementation of the dual mode, and JAMB advocated the programme and engaged very broadly with stakeholders in order to enhance the implementation.
A Unified Vision for Educational Transformation
At the stakeholders’ meeting, Minister Alausa underscored that the dual mandate is a “game-changer” for the teacher education system in the country. By allowing colleges to grant degrees on their own, Nigeria will promote a higher quality of teachers, eliminate over-reliance on universities, and increase the academic options open to those who want to become teachers.
The programme also seeks to halt the trend of converting Colleges of Education into Universities of Education, which most people consider to be contrary to the grain. Rather than creating more universities, Alausa said, it is advisable to deepen and diversify the current colleges.
Minister of State for Education Professor Suwaiba Said agreed with this view, noting that providing colleges with degree-awarding powers would raise their status. This development, she noted, was far more empowering than the current scenario whereby colleges merely associate with universities to offer degree courses.
Professor Said highlighted that independent degree-awarding powers would not only increase institutional pride but also better align curriculum development, teaching methods, and research capacity with national educational priorities.
Furthermore, President of COEASU, Dr. Smart Olugbeko, also greeted the government’s action. He hoped that the policy would put an end to an unhealthy rush in turning colleges into universities. However, he recommended that in place of running NCE and degree courses side by side for three years each, a five-year single-track course would be preferable. Based on such a format, he argued, academic rigor as well as program coherence would be more readily maintained.
