TRCN says all teachers in Nigeria must obtain valid professional licences by December 2027 as the council moves to tighten certification and standards
No Licence, No Classroom: TRCN Sets 2027 Deadline for Nigerian Teachers
Nigeria’s teaching profession is set for a major regulatory overhaul as the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) moves to ensure that all teachers obtain professional certification and valid licences by December 2027.
The Council’s Registrar, Dr Ronke Soyombo, disclosed this in an interview with The Nation, saying the reform is aimed at restoring professionalism, raising standards and ensuring that only qualified practitioners teach in Nigerian classrooms.
Soyombo said the TRCN was targeting at least 75 per cent professional certification among teachers by the end of 2026, with schools expected to increasingly demonstrate compliance with the requirement.
She said the council would monitor schools seeking to register candidates for public examinations, including those conducted by the National Examinations Council, to establish whether they meet the 75 per cent certification threshold.
“By December 2027, no teacher will be allowed to remain in the classroom without a valid TRCN licence,” Soyombo said.
She also disclosed that the council was changing its examination system to ensure that candidates are assessed according to their academic qualifications rather than through what could be perceived as a uniform examination.
“Thus, a PhD holder will take a PhD-level examination, a first-degree holder will take a degree-level examination, while an NCE holder will take an NCE-level examination.”
According to the registrar, the new integrated examination system will commence with the November examination and will also remove uncertainty over the qualification presented by candidates when registering.
She explained that the qualification held at the time of the examination would determine the appropriate level of assessment.
“For instance, a candidate who sits for the examination as an NCE holder cannot subsequently rely on obtaining a doctorate after the examination to claim that the earlier examination should be treated as a PhD-level assessment.”
Soyombo added, “If the doctorate was obtained before the examination, the candidate will need to sit for the appropriate examination to register as a PhD holder.”
The TRCN is also upgrading its technology infrastructure to cope with the growing demand for professional certification examinations.
Soyombo said the council inherited a test platform that could accommodate only about 120 candidates at a time, forcing examinations to be spread across several days.
“The new platform has dramatically increased that capacity. We can now accommodate up to 5,000 candidates at a time,” she said.
She said the upgrade would allow the council to conduct examinations simultaneously across different states, subject to the availability and capacity of Computer-Based Test centres.
The growing demand for certification was demonstrated during the May 2026 examination, which attracted more than 26,000 candidates nationwide.
Soyombo said the council was also considering different categories and areas of specialisation within the education sector as it develops a broader professional framework for the teaching profession.
“There are different categories and areas of specialisation within the education sector, and these are being taken into consideration as we continue to develop the professional framework,” she said.
