The Federal Government has approved the award of degree certificates by Colleges of Education in the country.
The approval, which is a major shift from the previous system that required university affiliations, was announced during the National Summit on Education held on Tuesday, 19 August in Abuja.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, represented by the Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, said the development is a historic milestone in Nigeria’s educational development.
Citing the Federal Colleges of Education establishment Act No. 43 of 2023 as the legal foundation for the reform, the Minister noted that the new policy allows the institutions to operate a dual-mandate system, offering both the traditional National Certificate in Education (NCE) and full degree programmes, without oversight or affiliation from universities.
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The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Prof. Paulinus Okwelle, while speaking at the event, described the reform as historic and emphasised that it has the potential to revitalise teacher education and widen access for aspiring educators.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Colleges of Education, Hon. Adamu Tanko, re-echoed to the stakeholders the credibility of the new degrees and added that the value of the degree awarded by the Colleges of Education will be equivalent to those conferred by conventional universities across the country.
The Minister of Education further pledged to support the rollout of the reform through targeted policy guidelines, technical support, and resource mobilisation to ensure its long-term success.
