The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has uncovered 250 fake teaching certificates during a state government recruitment exercise aimed at employing about 1,000 teachers.
TRCN Chief Executive and Registrar, Dr. Ronke Soyombo, disclosed this on Thursday, November 12, while monitoring the ongoing computer-based Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) in Abuja.
To curb certificate forgery, Soyombo explained that the council now issues QR-coded certificates that allow employers to instantly verify credentials on the TRCN portal prior to hiring, alongside deploying randomized, qualification-differentiated exam questions to prevent malpractice.
She added that the Federal Government has set strict targets to have 75 percent of teachers licensed by the end of 2026 and 100 percent certified before entering any classroom by December 2027.
Emphasizing that academic degrees alone do not qualify an individual to teach without proven competence in pedagogy, child safeguarding, and digital literacy, the registrar also noted that the council is introducing targeted training interventions to address widespread weaknesses in mathematics among teachers nationwide.
