By Attah Ede
The Federal Government on Saturday warned prospective students, parents and the general public against seeking admission into unauthorised programmes at the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI).
Consequently, the Federal Government announced the immediate cancellation of all admissions into the National Certificate in Education (NCE) and degree programmes of the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, for the 2026 academic session.
This was disclosed by the Federal Ministry of Education in a statement issued on Saturday over alleged regulatory breaches involving admissions, accreditation and university affiliations.
The Director of Press and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Education, Boriowo Folasade, who signed the statement and made it available to journalists in Abuja, said NTI had been directed to discontinue all university affiliations and degree-awarding arrangements.
The statement said NTI was no longer authorised to award NCE or university degrees, adding that no further admissions into the affected programmes, whether full-time, part-time or through Distance Learning Studies (DLS), would be permitted.
Consequently, prospective applicants were advised not to apply for, accept admission offers into or make payments for the affected programmes.
According to the Ministry, the directive followed violations of the Ministerial Operational Guidelines issued on September 12, 2025.
It explained that NCE admissions must comply with the requirements of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the accreditation standards of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has also been directed to notify affected universities and ensure compliance with the directive discontinuing NTI’s degree-awarding arrangements.
However, the Ministry said the intervention would not automatically deprive existing students of the opportunity to complete their studies.
It disclosed that the NCCE would conduct a comprehensive accreditation exercise covering existing NCE II–IV Distance Learning programmes and study centres across the six geopolitical zones.
Eligible students would be allowed to complete their programmes, subject to accreditation outcomes and other regulatory requirements.
The Ministry further clarified that NTI’s statutory mandate remained teacher training, retraining, in-service development and continuous professional development.
It said the institute was expected to continue providing 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 (TRCN), subject to applicable regulations.
The Ministry said the intervention was aimed at protecting students, maintaining academic standards and preventing prospective applicants from enrolling in unapproved programmes.
It urged members of the public to verify the accreditation and admission status of programmes through relevant regulatory authorities and official government channels before making enrolment or payment decisions.
