Favour Ishember, Abuja
The Federal Government has unveiled the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP), a new initiative under the Renewed Hope Agenda aimed at upgrading the qualifications of untrained teachers without removing them from classrooms.
The programme is designed to empower serving teachers by closing existing qualification gaps and strengthening professionalism across Nigeria’s basic education sector.
The ATPP will run through two blended learning pathways, the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) for degree holders without education qualifications and the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) for serving teachers entering from the National Diploma cadre.
Both routes combine self-paced digital learning, virtual facilitator-led sessions, structured assessments and supervised teaching practice conducted in participants’ own schools instead of off-site training centres.
The National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, led by its Director and Chief Executive, Prof. Sadiya Sani Daura, has been appointed by the Federal Government to coordinate the programme under the supervision of the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa.
The initiative seeks to professionalise non-professional teachers and address the long-standing challenge of thousands of educators teaching without recognised teaching qualifications.
Before the introduction of the ATPP, policymakers and education stakeholders had expressed concern that many serving teachers were neither licensed by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) nor operating under the professional standards the council is mandated to enforce.
To implement the programme, NTI will work with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), TRCN, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Federal Ministry of Education.
Acting as the Coordinating Secretariat, NTI will oversee curriculum development, content management and quality assurance through existing mandate institutions rather than establishing a separate project unit.
Preparations for the programme are already at an advanced stage. Curriculum frameworks for both the PGDE and PDE have been reviewed, validated and finalised, while learning modules have been developed by about 40 education experts drawn from universities, colleges of education and partner agencies, including NTI, TRCN, NSSEC, UBEC and NERDC.
The programme structure has also been mapped across the federal, state and local government levels, with the remaining work focusing on digital content delivery, teaching practice implementation and coordination with partner institutions.
Officials said the blended learning model was adopted out of necessity, combining virtual and physical instruction in a structured cycle to ensure participants gain practical classroom competence rather than relying solely on digital learning.
The ATPP will last six months, comprising four months of intensive instruction followed by two months of supervised teaching practice.
The teaching practice is regarded as the programme’s defining component and will assess whether participants demonstrate real classroom improvement rather than simply obtaining certificates.
Participants will complete a structured practicum under the guidance of mentors and supervisors, with documented lesson delivery, pupils’ work, classroom evidence and supervisor endorsements forming part of their assessment records.
The initiative provides serving teachers without formal teaching qualifications with an affordable, credible and time-bound pathway to obtain TRCN-recognised professional certification.
The media communication strategy for the programme was developed by the Sub-Committee on Media and Communication, chaired by the Executive Secretary of NSSEC, Dr. Iyela Ajayi, while Mal. Yusha’u Ahmed, Head of Public Relations and Protocol at NTI, represented the institute.
The ATPP, expected to benefit about 250,000 teachers nationwide, is scheduled for official launch in October 2026.
