Saving teacher education through Dual Mandate Policy 

•As candidates shun admission to COEs 

By Adesina Wahab

With over one million candidates unable to secure admission into tertiary institutions yearly in the country, over 300,000 admission spaces are always unfilled in Faculties of Education in universities and even Colleges of Education that are supposed to train teachers.

The development is not only putting teacher education in difficulty, but is aggravating the already short supply of competent teachers in the country. Available statistics from the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, shows that the nation needs an additional 194,876 qualified teachers to fill immediate gaps in public primary schools nationwide. According to data from UBEC, only 499,202 out of the 694,078 teachers required are available at the primary level.

When admission seekers are shunning applying to universities to study education, one can imagine what the situation is like at the College of Education level. The colleges award National Certificate in Education, NCE, which is the lowest certificate required to teach in Nigerian schools. 

The reality of the poor state of the COEs is seen in the recent number of students that matriculated recently at the Federal College of Education, Technical, Akoka, Lagos. Despite being located in the heart of Lagos, the college only matriculated 36 students for its NCE 100 level class. This is a college with hundreds of teaching and non-teaching staff.

It is in that context that the introduction of Dual Mandate Policy by the Federal Ministry of Education is significant. The policy allows some COEs to admit students for 100 level university education too. Those ones would graduate with Bachelor’s degree in Education. 15 pilot COEs started the policy this session. Through the policy, the Akoka college admitted 688 into 100 level degree programmes, 91 into direct entry programmes, and 36 into post-graduate diploma programmes in education.

Commenting on the development, the Acting Provost, Federal College of Education, Technical, Akoka, Yaba, Dr Isaac O. Miller, described the policy as a life saver for the COEs. 

According to him: “The development is a saving grace for colleges of education that are experiencing dearth of new intakes. The Federal College of Education, Technical, Akoka, Lagos is distinct with its academic strides and all round development, which have earned it dual mandate status and recognition, and its products well disposed to compete favourably among their peers.

‘I wish to express our profound gratitude to the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa and the Federal Government of Nigeria for graciously granting this college the dual mandate status. This landmark approval has significantly expanded our academic horizon and positioned the institution to deliver both degrees and NCE programmes with renewed vigour and excellence.”

Also,  the National Commission for Colleges of Education, NCCE, has launched a far-reaching overhaul of Nigeria’s teacher education system, declaring that the future of the nation depends on producing a new generation of technologically equipped, globally competitive and professionally respected teachers.

Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Angela Ajala, made the declaration in Abuja during a media parley with journalists, where she unveiled an ambitious reform agenda designed to transform Colleges of Education from mere certification centres into innovation-driven institutions capable of meeting modern educational demands.

“The era of assessing institutions only through files and documents is over. What matters now is whether children in classrooms are actually learning from competent and well-prepared teachers,” she said.

At the heart of the reforms is the implementation of the Dual Mandate policy, which grants qualified Colleges of Education the authority to independently award Bachelor of Education degrees under approved guidelines.

Under the arrangement, students will undertake a five-year academic structure comprising a three-year Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) programme followed by a two-year Bachelor of Education degree.

Ajala described the initiative as one of the boldest transformations in Nigeria’s teacher education sector in decades, saying it would restore confidence in Colleges of Education and eliminate the long-standing perception that the institutions are academically inferior to universities.

According to her, the reform is expected to expand opportunities for students pursuing professional teaching careers while strengthening the relevance and prestige of Colleges of Education nationwide.

The NCCE boss also revealed that the commission, in collaboration with the National Universities Commission,NUC, is reviewing teacher education curricula to align with global realities and emerging technological trends.

She said the new curriculum would expose future teachers to digital literacy, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, competency-based learning, inclusive education, climate studies, emotional intelligence, STEM education and child safeguarding.

“We are preparing teachers for the world that exists today, not the world that has passed,” Ajala stated.

She explained that the revised curriculum would also focus heavily on practical teaching experience, innovation, problem-solving, foundational literacy and numeracy, as well as values reorientation aimed at rebuilding confidence in the teaching profession.

On admissions, Ajala disclosed that the commission was reviewing existing entry processes to eliminate unnecessary bottlenecks while preserving professional standards and competence in the sector.

She maintained that although teaching should remain accessible to passionate candidates, the profession must continue to uphold quality, responsibility and excellence.

The Executive Secretary further appealed to the media, state governments, unions, governing councils, parents, development partners and the private sector to support the reforms and help change public perceptions about teaching in Nigeria.

“Teacher education is too important for silence. Teachers need dignity, students need motivation, classrooms need competence and Nigeria needs a stronger teacher pipeline,” she said.

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