Over 200 Illegal Institutions Awarding NCE Without Approval – NCCE
The National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) says it has identified over 200 illegal institutions awarding Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) without approval.
Executive Secretary of the Commission, Professor Paulinus C. Okwelle, disclosed this during an interview at a capacity-building programme organized by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for Beneficiary Colleges of Education (CoE) in collaboration with NCCE.
Okwelle revealed some universities, polytechnics and colleges run NCE without approval, noting that the commission had sent a report to the Ministry of Education on the issue.
“We have been asked to write the colleges operating illegally and give them a time frame, after which if nothing happens, we will take legal action against them,” he said.
While decrying poor enrolment into colleges of education, he said, “In March this year, we held a summit themed ‘NCE, the way forward.’ We deliberated extensively on how to improve enrolment, we were able to identify where the problem lies and we have sent our report to the Ministry of Education.”
Some of the problems identified, according to Okwelle, include lack of interest from candidates, the entry qualification and the number of years required to get a degree after obtaining NCE.
He said, “Entry qualification for NCE is five credits including English and Mathematics, which is the same for entering universities and polytechnics. Also, it takes three years to run an NCE programme, and to get a degree, you spend another three years, totalling six years while someone can just go straight to the university and spend four years.
“We have made a proposal to the government to reduce the admission qualification for those who have NCE to two years instead of three years; the National Universities Commission (NUC) is looking at that. We also talked about scholarship just to encourage people because people generally have apathy for teaching, worsened by the long number of years.”
