About 250,000 serving teachers without recognised professional teaching qualifications are set to receive a structured pathway to professional certification and licensing under the Federal Government’s Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP).

The initiative, supported by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), is designed to enable teachers who are already in classrooms but lack formal teacher-training qualifications to acquire the necessary professional credentials without leaving their jobs.

Under the arrangement, beneficiaries will undergo a six-month training programme leading to eligibility for the TRCN Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE), which is required for registration and licensing as professional teachers.

The programme provides two qualification routes. Graduates from non-education disciplines will be enrolled for the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), while eligible candidates from the National Diploma cadre will pursue the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE).

The training will combine four months of blended learning, including self-paced online courses, virtual facilitation and assessments, with two months of supervised teaching practice in participants’ respective schools.

Teachers who successfully complete the prescribed ATPP examination will proceed to the TRCN Professional Qualifying Examination. Successful candidates will subsequently be registered and issued professional teaching licences.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa (FAMedS), CON, is leading the initiative, which is being coordinated by a Technical Working Group chaired by Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad.

TRCN and the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, are expected to drive implementation, with the participation of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

The programme is also intended to address a longstanding challenge in Nigeria’s education system, where some teachers possess academic degrees in subject areas but lack recognised professional teacher-training qualifications and licences.

Officials say the ATPP will provide a structured opportunity for such teachers to regularise their professional status while remaining in service.

The 250,000 participants will be drawn from public and private schools and mapped across federal, state and local government levels.

The programme fee is expected to cover the prescribed certification and licensing processes for successful participants.