- Removing UTME For NCE Will Lower Standards – Teachers Union
- Union warned move could weaken teacher training quality in Nigeria.
- TRCN urged teachers to improve digital and professional skills.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers has rejected the Federal Government’s proposal to remove the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination requirement for candidates seeking admission into the Nigeria Certificate in Education programme.
The union warned that the move could weaken the quality and standard of teacher training across the country.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that NUT National President, Audu Amba, stated the union’s position in Abuja during a teachers’ workshop organised by 21st Century in partnership with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria.
Amba argued that admission into colleges of education should not be treated as a lesser option compared to admission into universities.
He expressed concern that many brilliant and high-performing students now preferred universities, while colleges of education were increasingly left for candidates who failed to secure university admission.
According to him, the development could negatively affect the quality of future teachers and the overall standard of education in Nigeria.
The NUT president maintained that the teaching profession should attract some of the best students in the country, rather than becoming an alternative for unsuccessful university applicants.
“Why can’t we now say that anyone going to College of Education to become a teacher tomorrow must be among the highest-scoring candidates in UTME?” he asked.
“Colleges of Education are not dumping grounds. We are supposed to have the best candidates, but unfortunately, when people fail to secure university admission, they are told to go and manage NCE,” he added.
Amba stressed that improving teacher quality remained critical to strengthening the country’s education system and producing better learning outcomes for students.
At the same event, Registrar of the TRCN, Ronke Soyombo, emphasised the need for teachers to develop stronger digital and professional skills to meet the demands of modern education and the evolving global economy.
Soyombo noted that technological advancement and changes in the global workforce required teachers to continuously improve their knowledge and teaching methods.
She added that equipping teachers with modern skills would help improve learning standards and prepare students for future challenges.
