The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria has assured teachers and stakeholders that its digital portal is now fully stable following a brief outage in December caused by technical issues with a former service provider.
The Registrar of the council, Ronke Soyombo, gave the assurance during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, addressing concerns raised by teachers over earlier disruptions.
Soyombo explained that the portal was down for only one week in December, after which the council disengaged the developer responsible and migrated to a new provider.
“In December, we had some issues with the developer, so our portal was down for one week. We resolved it and switched to another developer,” she said.
She dismissed reports of persistent system failures as misleading and politically motivated, stressing that the council remains committed to efficiency and service delivery.
According to her, it would be counterproductive to schedule professional examinations while operating a faulty system.
“As much as I am an educationist, I also have a responsibility to generate revenue for government. Every agency is expected to remit 50 per cent. I would not announce an examination and have the portal down. That would be counterproductive,” she added.
The registrar, however, acknowledged that some teachers still face challenges accessing the portal due to limited digital literacy. To address this, she said the council continues to provide alternative options, including physical registration at state offices nationwide.
“We still have teachers who cannot access the portal because of digital literacy issues. That is why our state offices remain open. At no time in January was the portal down,” she noted.
On inclusivity, particularly for teachers in rural areas with poor internet access, Soyombo said the council is deploying help desk officers in tertiary institutions, conducting mobile outreach in some states, and carrying out sensitisation campaigns in underserved communities.
She added that collaboration with stakeholders such as the Nigeria Union of Teachers, state commissioners, and education administrators has helped expand access to the platform.
“We are not fully there yet, it is still a work in progress. But we are making efforts to ensure inclusivity and reach teachers in rural areas,” she said.
Soyombo also disclosed that the council is working towards launching a mobile application to improve accessibility, with plans to introduce it before the end of April, while exploring offline integration options.
“By the end of April, we intend to introduce an app that will make access more convenient for users. We will also consider offline integration as suggested,” she stated.
On certification, the registrar reiterated that all individuals engaged in teaching—from early childhood to tertiary level—must be registered and certified by TRCN in line with its mandate.
“Whether you teach children or adults, you must be certified. The minimum qualification is the Nigeria Certificate in Education or a degree with relevant education training such as a postgraduate diploma in education,” she said.
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