Anambra teachers reject FG’s JAMB waiver for NCE, polytechnic admissions

From Obinna Odogwu, Awka

Teachers in Anambra State have rejected the Federal Government’s exemption for candidates seeking admissions into colleges of education and polytechnics from writing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the state, Comrade Chika Chukwudozie, in a statement, said that the step by the government would be counterproductive and would open the door for incompetent persons to join the teaching profession.

Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, had announced during the 2026 Policy Meeting on Admissions to Tertiary Institutions held in Abuja that candidates seeking admission into National Certificate in Education programmes would no longer be required to sit the UTME if they possessed the required qualifications.

He argued that the policy was aimed at expanding access to tertiary education while still maintaining admission standards

But this move did not go down well with the teachers. They warned that the standard of admission into colleges of education should not be cheapened in order to attract candidates into it.

“This policy is not reformatory, but rather dangerous and detrimental to the expected high standard in education”, Chukwudozie warned.

The teachers argued that there were proactive measures to be taken to make admission into colleges of education attractive and competitive, which the government has refused to address.

“These measures include attending to the welfare of teachers, including improvement on salaries and remunerations; keeping the school environment safe and conducive for learning.

“Others are creating a functional career path and growth for teachers; implementing the regulatory policies of the teaching profession and provision of adequate infrastructure in the schools.

“There is also the need to improve on education funding, create functional and accessible scholarship schemes for students in colleges of education, and enhance professional dignity of the teachers through provision of basic needs – housing, means of transportation, soft loans etc”, she said.

The Anambra NUT boss argued that when all these are put in place, candidates would naturally scramble for admission into these education colleges with the aim of becoming proud professional teachers.

She said that globally, education is acknowledged as the bedrock of all developments and the foundation from where all other professions take their bearing from.

“Most importantly, it is a sector responsible for producing the teachers who will shape the minds, values, competency, and morality of people who are scattered in all other professions. Why then is it to be made all comers affair.”