FG cancels teachers’ institute admissions

The Federal Government has cancelled all admissions into the National Teachers’ Institute’s National Certificate in Education and degree programmes for the 2026 academic session over regulatory breaches involving accreditation and university affiliations.

The Federal Ministry of Education also directed the Kaduna-based institute to discontinue all university affiliations and degree-awarding arrangements, warning prospective students and parents against applying or paying for the affected programmes.

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade, said the institute was not authorised to award NCE or university degrees.

She said the cancellation covered all forms of admission, including full-time, part-time, and Distance Learning Studies programmes.

“No further admissions into the affected programmes, whether full-time, part-time, or through Distance Learning Studies, are permitted,” the ministry stated.

According to the statement, the decision followed violations of the Ministerial Operational Guidelines issued on September 12, 2025.

The ministry said NCE admissions must comply with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s requirements and the National Commission for Colleges of Education’s accreditation standards.

It also directed the National Universities Commission to notify affected universities and enforce compliance with the order discontinuing NTI’s degree-awarding arrangements.

However, the ministry said students already enrolled in existing NCE Distance Learning programmes would be protected through a comprehensive accreditation exercise.

It said the NCCE would assess existing NCE II to IV programmes and study centres across the six geopolitical zones to determine their compliance with regulatory standards.

“Eligible students may complete their programmes, subject to accreditation outcomes and regulatory requirements,” the statement added.

The ministry explained that the intervention aimed to protect students and prevent applicants from enrolling in unapproved academic programmes.

It clarified that NTI’s statutory mandate remained teacher training, retraining, in-service development, and continuous professional development.

“This includes pedagogical capacity-building and the three-to-six-month Special Abridged Programme for serving teachers with non-Education degrees to acquire the professional competencies required for registration with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, subject to applicable regulations,” the statement added.

The ministry advised the public to verify the accreditation and admission status of academic programmes through regulatory agencies and official government channels before enrolling or making payments.