Most federal education colleges now award degrees, NCE together — Minister

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The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has said most federal colleges of education in Nigeria now operate a dual-mandate system that allows students to earn both the Nigeria Certificate in Education and a Bachelor of Education degree concurrently.

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Alausa disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

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He explained that the initiative was introduced in 2025 to strengthen teacher education and improve enrolment in colleges of education.

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According to him, students admitted into the institutions begin with the NCE programme and, upon meeting university admission requirements after three years, proceed to complete a degree programme within an additional two years.

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“From last year alone, dual-mandate colleges of education and all federal colleges of education today, most of them, except the ones that were founded five years and below, now offer dual-mandate degree.

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“That student will now go, they’ll enter as an NCE, they’ll do three years. After three years, if they meet the requirement to go to universities, which is five credits, they’ll continue and do another two years and get two degrees.

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“Five years, you get NCE, National College of Education Diploma, and you get a Bachelor of Education degree,” he said.

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The minister said the reform had improved the sustainability of colleges of education and increased student enrolment into the institutions.

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“That has really now put colleges of education into sustainability for the future. So we’ve had more traction of students going. We need a better pool of more teachers, high-quality teachers,” he added.

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Alausa explained that the arrangement was similar to the pathway from national diploma programmes in polytechnics to university degrees.

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According to the minister, about 28 federal colleges of education have already commenced the programme, while state-owned colleges are expected to begin implementation from the 2026 academic session after amending relevant state laws.

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“Now, for the state colleges of education, they now have to change their individual state legislation to make that happen.

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“I think, as of the last count, we have almost 18 states or 17 states that have done that.

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“They would also be doing that from this 2026 academic session. That’s a huge change in our colleges of education,” he said.

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He further clarified that students who fail to meet the O’level requirements for university admission after completing the NCE programme would exit with only the NCE qualification.

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“If you don’t meet those requirements, you terminate at NCE. But the key thing, beyond opening up more access, is to now create pool,” Alausa stated.

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