The Federal Ministry of Education has cancelled all 2026 admissions into the National Certificate in Education (NCE) and degree programmes of the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) over alleged regulatory breaches.
The ministry also ordered the institute to discontinue its university affiliations, accreditation arrangements and degree-awarding activities.
The directive was announced in a statement issued on Saturday by the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade.
According to the statement, NTI is not authorised to award NCE certificates or university degrees.
The ministry consequently warned prospective students, parents and members of the public against seeking admission into the affected programmes, including full-time, part-time and Distance Learning Studies (DLS).
“Consequently, all admissions into NTI’s NCE and degree programmes for the 2026 academic session have been cancelled, while the Institute has been directed to discontinue all university affiliations and degree-awarding arrangements, as it is not authorised to award NCE and university degrees,” the statement said.
It further stressed that no new admissions into the affected programmes would be permitted, regardless of the mode of study.
The ministry said the decision followed violations of ministerial operational guidelines issued on September 12, 2025.
It explained that NCE admissions must comply with the requirements of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the accreditation standards of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).
The ministry also directed the National Universities Commission (NUC) to notify affected universities and ensure compliance with the order ending NTI’s degree-awarding arrangements.
However, it said measures would be taken to protect students already enrolled in existing programmes, particularly those in the NCE II–IV distance learning programmes.
According to the statement, the NCCE will conduct a comprehensive accreditation exercise covering existing programmes and study centres across the six geopolitical zones.
“To protect innocent students already enrolled, the NCCE will conduct comprehensive accreditation of existing NCE II–IV Distance Learning programmes and study centres across the six geopolitical zones,” the statement added.
It said eligible students could be allowed to complete their programmes, subject to the outcome of the accreditation exercise and other regulatory requirements.
The ministry further stated that NTI’s statutory responsibilities should remain focused on teacher training, retraining, in-service development and continuous professional development.
It said the institute was expected to provide pedagogical capacity-building and a three-to-six-month special abridged programme for serving teachers with non-education degrees.
The programme is intended to equip such teachers with the professional competencies required for registration with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
