The National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, has been designated to coordinate the Nigerian Government’s Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP), a new initiative aimed at professionalising unqualified serving teachers and addressing qualification gaps in the education sector.
The programme, initiated by the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, is expected to provide a structured pathway for about 250,000 serving teachers to obtain professional teaching qualifications without leaving the classroom.
Under the initiative, the NTI, led by its Director and Chief Executive, Professor Sadiya Sani Daura, will serve as the Coordinating Secretariat under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.
The ATPP seeks to address a longstanding challenge in basic education, where many teachers are reportedly teaching without recognised professional qualifications or registration with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
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The Head of Public Relations and Protocol at NTI, Yusha’u Ahmed, disclosed this in a statement, noting that the programme would be implemented 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.
“Rather than phasing out unqualified teachers, the initiative seeks to empower them through a six-month professionalisation programme comprising four months of intensive instruction and two months of supervised teaching practice
“The training will be delivered through two routes: the Postgraduate Diploma in Education for serving teachers with degrees in non-education disciplines, and the Professional Diploma in Education for teachers entering from the National Diploma cadre,” he stated.
Ahmed said both routes would adopt a blended learning model involving self-paced digital content, virtual facilitated sessions, structured assessments and supervised teaching practice conducted in the teachers’ own schools.
He explained that the teaching practice component would include structured practicum, mentor and supervisor protocols, as well as documented evidence of lessons taught, pupils’ work and supervisor sign-offs.
“In the programme design, the teaching practice is intended to ensure that the ATPP produces measurable improvements in classroom practice rather than merely additional qualifications on paper,” Ahmed noted.
“The academic track of the programme has substantially been completed, with the curriculum frameworks for both routes reviewed, validated and finalised,” the Head of Public Relations and Protocol revealed.
According to Ahmed, a national panel of about 40 content experts from universities, colleges of education, and relevant agencies, including NTI, TRCN, NSSEC, UBEC, and NERDC, developed the modules.
He further stated that the programme architecture had been mapped across the federal, state and local government levels, with the remaining activities focusing on the digital curriculum delivery system, teaching practice arrangements and engagement with partner institutions.
“The NTI, as Coordinating Secretariat, will oversee curriculum coordination, content management and quality assurance in collaboration with UBEC and the ATPP Steering Committee,” Ahmed said.
The programme is expected to launch in October 2026.
The media and communication strategy for the initiative was considered by the Sub-Committee on Media and Communication, chaired by the Executive Secretary of NSSEC, Dr Iyela Ajayi. NTI was represented by its Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Yusha’u Ahmed.
