Fed Govt Mandates NTI To Professionalise 250,000 Teachers

The federal government has mandated the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, to coordinate the professionalisation of 250,000 serving teachers without formal teaching qualifications.

This is contained in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja by Dr Iyela Ajaji, Sub-Committee chairman on Media and Communication, Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP)

Ajayi is also the Executive Secretary, National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC).
He said the ATPP was designed to provide serving teachers with structured, affordable and time-bound routes to professional qualifications recognised by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
According to him, the initiative is being implemented under the supervision of the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, as part of efforts to strengthen teacher quality nationwide.

Ajayi said the programme would address the challenge of serving teachers who lacked professional teaching qualifications or were not licensed by TRCN.

He stressed that the initiative was not designed to remove such teachers from the classrooms but to provide them with opportunities to acquire the required qualifications.

He also said the NTI, led by its director and chief executive, Prof. Sadiya Daura, would serve as the Coordinating Secretariat for the programme.

Ajayi said NTI would work with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), TRCN, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), NSSEC, National Universities Commission (NUC) and other relevant agencies.