Nigerian Colleges of Education to Start Awarding Degrees from September 2025
The long-anticipated dual mandate allowing Nigeria’s Colleges of Education (COES) to offer both Bachelor’s degrees and the National Certificate in Education (NCE) is now set to take off in September 2025, a year later than initially planned.
This announcement was made by Minister of State for Education, Tunji Alausa, during a follow-up session on resolutions from the most recent biannual stakeholders’ meeting held in Abuja on Tuesday.
Originally scheduled to begin in the 2024/2025 academic session, the dual mandate was signed into law in 2023 following broad consultations and committee recommendations. The rollout will now commence exclusively in federal COES that have been in existence for at least 10 years.
Alausa emphasised that this reform is a game-changer for Nigeria’s educational landscape.
“With this dual mandate, there is no need for conversion to university status. You should be the ones pushing for implementation, not resisting it. It’s a matter of your survival,” he told COE administrators.
According to the minister, the new policy will drive up enrolment, reinvigorate COES, and help them compete on a national level without transitioning them into full-fledged universities.
He also urged educators to embrace a forward-thinking mindset and integrate technology, critical thinking, and computational skills into their teaching methods.
“The way we taught 30 or 50 years ago is no longer relevant,” Alausa said. “Education and teaching methods are evolving. You must start thinking about how to use technology in the classroom.”
He highlighted the country’s pressing educational challenges and pointed to the high number of out-of-school children and rising learning poverty. Alausa called on teachers to be at the forefront of national transformation, leveraging edtech and artificial intelligence to enhance outcomes.
“We once had a strong educational system, and that’s what we are working hard to restore. All hands are on deck to achieve this,” he added.
As the federal government backs this structural reform, Alausa issued a clear warning: institutions that fail to adapt could face extinction.
“The government has secured the future of colleges of education. It is now up to you to sustain them.”
