Feyisayo Ogunbiyi
The federal government has announced that colleges of education across Nigeria will begin awarding bachelor’s degrees alongside the National Certificate in Education (NCE) from September 2025.
Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the disclosure in Abuja on Tuesday during a stakeholders’ engagement on the implementation of the dual mandate policy, which grants colleges of education the authority to award degrees.
The initiative, signed into law in 2023, was initially scheduled to commence in the 2024/2025 academic session.
However, Alausa confirmed that the rollout has now been moved to the 2025/2026 academic year, with only federal colleges of education that are at least 10 years old eligible to pioneer the programme.
“This dual mandate is a game-changer. It will boost enrolment, end the calls for conversion of COEs to universities, and position them as formidable institutions for teacher training,” Alausa said.
He emphasized the importance of reforming the nation’s teacher education system, urging educators to integrate technology, critical thinking, and artificial intelligence into their teaching methods to keep up with global standards.
“We once had a strong educational foundation. Now is the time to rebuild it. Teachers must drive this transformation by embracing new methods and tools,” he added.
The minister also raised concerns over the dwindling enrolment figures in colleges of education, warning that institutions that fail to adapt to the new mandate risk becoming obsolete.
“With this dual mandate, there’s no longer a need for agitation to convert COEs into universities. Institutions must seize this opportunity to redefine their relevance or risk extinction,” Alausa said.
He urged administrators and lecturers in colleges of education to support the reforms, stressing that their survival now depends on how quickly and effectively they adapt to the changes.
The federal government, according to Alausa, is committed to tackling the high number of out-of-school children and reducing learning poverty, describing teachers as central to achieving this goal.
The policy is expected to reposition Nigeria’s teacher education system and help bridge the gap between theoretical instruction and the demands of the modern classroom.
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