The National Teachers’ Institute, NTI, Kaduna, has been mandated to coordinate the Federal Government’s Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway, ATPP, a new initiative designed to professionalise serving teachers without formal teaching qualifications and bridge qualification gaps in the basic education system.
A statement by the Sub-Committee on Media and Communication, chaired by the Executive Secretary of the National Senior Secondary Education Commission, NSSEC, Dr Iyela Ajayi, on Friday, said the initiative is under the supervision of the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa.
According to the statement, the professionalisation scheme is expected to provide about 250,000 Nigerian teachers with a structured, affordable and time-bound route to obtaining professional teaching qualifications recognised by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN.
It noted that the ATPP is designed to address a long-standing structural weakness in Nigeria’s education system, where a significant number of serving teachers lack professional teaching qualifications and, in some cases, are neither licensed by the TRCN nor adequately covered by the professional standards it is mandated to enforce.
Under the arrangement, the NTI, led by its Director and Chief Executive, Prof. Sadiya Sani Daura, will serve as the Coordinating Secretariat in partnership with the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, TRCN, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NERDC, the National Senior Secondary Education Commission, NSSEC, the National Universities Commission, NUC, and other relevant institutions under the Federal Ministry of Education.
The statement noted that the programme is not intended to remove unqualified teachers from the classroom. Rather, it seeks to provide them with an opportunity to acquire the necessary professional qualifications while continuing to serve in their schools.
It said the ATPP will be delivered through two routes in a blended learning format. The Postgraduate Diploma in Education, PGDE, will cater for serving teachers who hold degrees in disciplines other than education, while the Professional Diploma in Education, PDE, will provide a pathway for serving teachers entering from the National Diploma cadre.
Both routes will combine self-paced digital learning, virtual facilitated sessions, structured assessment checkpoints and supervised teaching practice. The teaching practice will be conducted and verified in the teachers’ own schools rather than in simulated off-site centres.
The six-month programme will comprise four months of intensive instruction followed by a two-month teaching practice component.
The teaching practice is a critical element of the programme, with its design built around a structured practicum, a mentor and supervisor protocol, and documented evidence of lessons taught, pupils’ work and learning artefacts, alongside supervisor sign-offs maintained as part of each candidate’s records.
According to the programme design, NTI will coordinate curriculum development, content management and quality assurance in collaboration with UBEC and the ATPP Steering Committee, while implementation will be undertaken through existing mandate institutions rather than a parallel project unit.
The Sub-Committee noted that preparatory work for the programme has substantially progressed, with curriculum frameworks for the PGDE and PDE routes reviewed, validated and finalised.
It disclosed that module development has also been undertaken by a national panel of about 40 content experts drawn from universities, colleges of education and relevant mandate agencies, including NTI, TRCN, NSSEC, UBEC and NERDC.
The programme architecture has equally been mapped across the federal, state and local government levels. Remaining preparatory activities include finalising the digital curriculum delivery process, teaching practice arrangements and engagement with participating institutions.
The blended delivery model combines virtual and physical components and is designed to ensure that teachers do not progress solely on the strength of digital learning. Each module will incorporate four complementary components in a repeating cycle to strengthen instruction, assessment and practical application.
The Sub-Committee also announced that the ATPP is scheduled for launch in October 2026 as part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts under the Renewed Hope Agenda to strengthen teacher quality and professional standards across Nigeria’s education system.
