TRCN uncovers 250 fake certificates during teachers’ recruitment exercise

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria has uncovered 250 fake teaching certificates during a recruitment exercise. 

The Chief Executive and Registrar of TRCN, Dr Ronke Soyombo, disclosed this while monitoring the ongoing computer-based Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) at Redeemer’s TEAP International School, Abuja, on Thursday, November 12. 

She revealed that the council made the discovery during a recruitment process in which an unidentified state sought to employ about 1,000 teachers.

To combat the spread of fake certificates, she explained that TRCN now issues certificates embedded with QR codes that link employers directly to the council’s portal for instant authentication before recruitment.

She added that the council had also tightened examination integrity by deploying randomised, qualification-differentiated questions so that PhD, first-degree and Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) holders sitting beside one another could not engage in malpractice.

Soyombo said that the Federal Government has also set a strict deadline to ensure that 75 per cent of teachers were licensed by the end of 2026 and 100 per cent were certified before entering any classroom by December 2027.

The registrar stressed that a first-class degree alone did not qualify an individual to teach without proven competence in pedagogy, child safeguarding and digital literacy.

Soyombo also disclosed that previous PQE assessments exposed widespread weaknesses in mathematics among teachers nationwide, prompting the council to design targeted training interventions with relevant education agencies.

Soyombo urged candidates to shun malpractice and fraudulent shortcuts.