The Registrar of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, Ronke Soyombo, has assured teachers and stakeholders that the Council’s digital portal is now fully stable after a brief outage experienced in December.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Soyombo explained that the disruption lasted for only one week and was caused by technical issues with a former service provider. She said the matter was quickly resolved after the Council disengaged the developer and migrated to a new one.
“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 dismissed reports of ongoing technical failures as misleading and politically motivated, emphasizing that the system is now functioning effectively.
The Registrar noted that the Council remains focused on efficiency and revenue generation, adding that it would not make sense to schedule examinations while operating a faulty platform.
“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 said.
However, Soyombo acknowledged that some teachers still face difficulties accessing the portal due to limited digital literacy. To address this, she said the Council continues to offer 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 added.
On inclusivity, particularly for educators in rural areas with poor internet access, she highlighted ongoing efforts such as deploying help desk officers in tertiary institutions, conducting mobile outreach in selected states, and organizing sensitisation campaigns in underserved communities.
She also pointed to collaboration with stakeholders like the Nigeria Union of Teachers, state commissioners, and education administrators as key to expanding access.
“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.
Addressing suggestions for offline integration, Soyombo revealed that while the idea is under consideration, the immediate focus is on launching a mobile application to improve accessibility.
“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, she reiterated that all teachers from early childhood to tertiary level—must be registered and certified by TRCN, noting that the minimum qualification remains the Nigeria Certificate in Education or a degree complemented by relevant training such as a postgraduate diploma in education.
