The Federal Ministry of Education on Saturday, November 7, 2026 cancelled all 2026 admissions into the National Certificate in Education (NCE) and degree programmes at the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, and warned applicants not to accept offers or pay fees for them. The ban covers full-time, part-time and Distance Learning Studies (DLS) routes, and the ministry has also ordered NTI to end every university affiliation and degree-awarding arrangement it runs, saying the institute isn’t authorised to award NCE or university degrees.
The statement, signed by the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade, points to breaches involving admissions, accreditation and university affiliations. For anyone who has applied to NTI this year, or was about to, the instruction is to stop. Students already studying for an NCE through NTI’s distance learning centres aren’t being sent home automatically, but their path to finishing now depends on an accreditation review.
A 2025 rulebook is behind the cancellation
The ministry tied the decision to violations of the Ministerial Operational Guidelines it issued on September 12, 2025. Under those guidelines, NCE admissions have to meet 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 didn’t publish details of each breach in its statement.
The degree side of the order reaches beyond Kaduna. The National Universities Commission has been directed to notify the universities involved in NTI’s affiliation arrangements and make sure they’re brought to an end. Anyone enrolled in a degree run through such an arrangement should contact the partner university directly and ask, in writing, what happens to their programme.
NCE II to IV students now wait on the NCCE
The ministry said the move “would not automatically deprive existing students of the opportunity to complete their studies”, adding that eligible students would be allowed to finish “subject to accreditation outcomes”. The NCCE will carry out a full accreditation of the NCE II to IV distance learning programmes and the study centres running them across the six geopolitical zones.
No timeline for that review has been announced. If you’re in one of those classes, keep your admission letter, fee receipts and course registration records together, and don’t pay any new charge described as a “regularisation” or “accreditation” fee unless it’s confirmed through official channels. Updates on the review should come from the NCCE or the Federal Ministry of Education, not from a forwarded message.
Teachers with non-education degrees still have an NTI route
NTI isn’t being shut. The ministry said its statutory mandate remains teacher training, retraining and in-service development, and it will keep running a three-to-six-month Special Abridged Programme for serving teachers who hold degrees outside education. That programme is meant to give them the skills needed to register with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), subject to the applicable regulations.
For serving teachers, that means the professional upgrade route is still open even though the NCE and degree intakes are not. Check that any programme you’re offered is described as the Special Abridged Programme before paying.
How to check an NCE offer before you pay a kobo
The ministry urged the public to verify the accreditation and admission status of any programme through regulators and official government channels before enrolling or paying. For an NCE, that means checking that the college is accredited by the NCCE and that your admission shows on JAMB’s CAPS, the same check we explained when JAMB warned against admissions processed outside CAPS. An offer that never appears on CAPS isn’t one JAMB recognises.
If you’ve already paid NTI for a 2026 NCE or degree place, keep the receipt and the payment reference, since those are what you’ll need if a refund process is announced. The ministry’s statement didn’t say anything about refunds, so the first thing to watch for is a follow-up notice from NTI or the ministry that explains how applicants who paid this year will be treated.
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