The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has discovered 250 fake teaching certificates during a recruitment exercise, raising concerns over the prevalence of unqualified personnel seeking employment in the country's education sector.

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

She said the forged documents were discovered during a recruitment exercise in which an unnamed state government sought to employ approximately 1,000 teachers.

Soyombo warned that the circulation of fraudulent teaching credentials posed a serious threat to educational standards and the quality of instruction in Nigerian schools.

To address the problem, she disclosed that the council had introduced Quick Response (QR)-coded certificates, allowing employers to access its verification portal and authenticate applicants' credentials before offering them employment.

She added that TRCN had strengthened examination security by introducing randomised questions tailored to candidates' qualifications, ensuring that holders of PhD degrees, first degrees and Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) qualifications could not easily engage in examination malpractice.

The registrar also disclosed that the Federal Government had set a target of licensing 75 per cent of teachers by the end of 2026, while requiring all teachers to obtain professional certification before entering classrooms by December 2027.

She stressed that possessing a first-class degree or other academic qualification did not automatically make an individual a competent teacher without demonstrated knowledge of teaching methods, child safeguarding and digital literacy.

Soyombo further revealed that previous professional qualifying examinations had exposed significant weaknesses in mathematics among teachers nationwide, prompting the council to develop targeted training programmes in collaboration with relevant education agencies.

She said the council's digital reforms had increased teacher registration from 13,000 in May 2025 to 26,000 in November 2025, while approximately 21,000 candidates were participating in the 2026 qualifying examination nationwide.

According to her, candidates would receive their examination results digitally within one week.

Some candidates who participated in the exercise described the computer-based examination as well-organised. However, one of them, Benjamin Edet, suggested that examination slips should contain candidates' assigned centres and schedules to reduce delays associated with obtaining information through external links and WhatsApp groups.

Soyombo urged teachers to avoid examination malpractice and fraudulent certification processes, reaffirming the council's commitment to eliminating unqualified practitioners from Nigerian classrooms.