Nigeria is staring at a severe teacher shortage within six years unless urgent measures are taken to boost enrollment in teacher-training institutions. Dr. Angela Ajala, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), sounded the alarm during a visit by the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
Ajala described the current enrollment rate in Colleges of Education as alarming. In some colleges, as few as 30 students are spread across 10 programs. The attrition rate is troubling. If we do not act now, Nigeria may not have enough teachers in the near future, she warned.
The NCCE chief placed teacher education at the core of national development. No country can grow beyond the quality of its teachers, she said. If you get it wrong with a teacher, just know that Nigeria is finished. Every engineer, doctor, scientist, entrepreneur, politician, and leader passes through the hands of a teacher. Teacher education lies at the heart of national development.
Ajala declared war on decades of neglect and the lingering perception that teaching is a profession of last resort. She stressed that damage from poor teacher training lasts longer than in any other field. You can fix a faulty car, she said. But when a teacher damages a child in the classroom, that damage can last a lifetime. Those children become the future professionals and leaders of society.
To reverse the trend, the NCCE is rolling out reforms, including a dual mandate for Colleges of Education. Under the new arrangement, graduates will leave with multiple qualifications: the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE), a degree, and globally recognized skills certification. Who else offers that opportunity? Ajala asked. Colleges of Education are becoming institutions where students can earn multiple qualifications and acquire international skills that make them globally competitive.
Ajala also defended the recent policy scrapping the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as a requirement for admission into Colleges of Education. She dismissed claims that the move lowers standards, calling UTME just a placement exam. What is UTME? It is a two-hour examination. It is not an achievement test. Decisions like these were not taken arbitrarily; they were based on evidence, data, and projections about the future of teacher education in Nigeria.
The commission is also revising curricula to align with international standards. Ajala noted that Nigeria’s teacher training is not far behind countries like Finland and Singapore. She urged education journalists to help rebrand the profession, telling the ECAN delegation led by Chairman Chuks Ukwuatu: You are not just reporters; you are reformers. What you report shapes public opinion, influences policy conversations, and changes mindsets.
Earlier, Ukwuatu congratulated Ajala on her appointment as the first female Executive Secretary of the NCCE and pledged the association’s commitment to objective reporting of education reforms. He also informed her about the association’s forthcoming Education Conference and Awards, expected to bring together stakeholders to assess the impact of reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the education sector.
