TRCN Portal Leaves Thousands Stranded
Teachers across Nigeria are confronting mounting administrative challenges as the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria digital registration portal continues to experience persistent technical failures, forcing educators to abandon online processes and return to manual registration methods that the system was designed to eliminate.
The online platform, launched in September 2025 with considerable fanfare by Minister of Education Maruf Alausa, was intended to modernise teacher registration, licensing, and certificate printing across the country. The initiative, led by TRCN Registrar Dr Ronke Soyombo, formed part of broader reforms aimed at restoring professionalism and dignity to Nigeria’s teaching profession.
However, educators who spoke with Observers Times on Monday reported widespread frustration with the portal, which they said has caused significant setbacks in teacher administration and professional development.
Femi Daniels, a primary school teacher at a Local Education Authority school in Abuja, described his repeated unsuccessful attempts to use the system.
“It seems to me it’s not easy to register for TRN. What kind of portal is this? You waste a whole week trying to do one thing and always get the same result. I spent days trying to upload my documents every hour, but it always says ‘you’re not allowed to perform this action’ or ‘try again,'” Daniels said.
He added that difficulties extended beyond the portal itself. “I went to Zenith Bank to purchase the form, but it was not available. This means if I want to register, I would have to travel more than 300 kilometres and spend over ₦11,000 on transport.”
Daniels also raised concerns about the potential for fraud arising from the system’s dysfunction. “They are not making things easy, and that is why some people resort to paying illegally for certificates. By experience, fake certificates are issued. I once scanned a QR code, and behold, the name, registration number, and other details did not match.”
Sadiq Kehinde, a secondary school teacher in Gombe State, questioned the value delivered by the digital investment. “Officials had promised that the digital platform would eliminate long-standing bureaucratic bottlenecks and allow teachers to complete registration processes from the comfort of their homes. What happened to the millions of Naira invested in creating the portal?”
A secondary school teacher in Kurudu, Abuja, who requested anonymity, said the delays are already affecting career progression for educators. “Some of us need our certificates for promotion. Now we have to go to banks and some of the banks are telling us that they no longer have the form and that we have to register online.”
According to a statement from a coalition of concerned stakeholders in Nigeria, the portal has experienced persistent technical failures since January 2026, leaving thousands of teachers nationwide unable to access its services. The statement, signed by Haliru Muhammed, noted that educators have been forced to return to manual registration at state TRCN offices, reviving the very delays, paperwork, and administrative hurdles the digital system was meant to eliminate.
“Many affected educators say the situation has brought back the delays and bureaucratic processes that were supposed to be resolved by the digital platform,” the stakeholders’ statement read.
The breakdown comes at a critical juncture as TRCN continues discussions on its 2026–2028 Strategic Plan, which includes integrating digital tools and artificial intelligence to support teaching and administrative systems across Nigeria. Stakeholders expressed concern that ongoing technical failures could undermine these modernisation efforts.
“We call on Dr Soyombo-led TRCN to urgently address the technical problems and provide clarity on the future of the portal. The credibility of teacher registration processes and the welfare of educators must not be compromised,” the Lagos stakeholders said.
The TRCN was established under the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria Act of 2004 to regulate teaching standards, license educators, and maintain professional ethics. The Act mandates that all teachers in Nigeria must be registered with the council to practise legally, and sets out disciplinary procedures for professional misconduct.
Since its establishment, TRCN has been responsible for accrediting teacher training institutions, conducting professional qualifying examinations, and maintaining a register of qualified teachers. The council’s mandate extends to both public and private schools across the federation.
The 2025 launch of the digital portal marked a significant modernisation effort aimed at reducing bureaucracy and increasing transparency in teacher management. At the launch, Minister Alausa described the platform as a milestone in education sector reform, promising it would eliminate corruption and inefficiency in teacher registration processes.
Dr Soyombo, who assumed office as Registrar in 2023, has made digital transformation a cornerstone of her administration. Prior to the portal launch, she had spoken publicly about plans to leverage technology to improve service delivery and restore public confidence in teacher certification.
However, recurring technical failures highlight persistent challenges in digital adoption across Nigeria’s public sector. These challenges include infrastructure deficits, inconsistent power supply, inadequate internet connectivity in rural areas, insufficient system maintenance, and limited technical capacity for troubleshooting complex digital platforms.
Nigeria’s broader experience with digital government services has been mixed. While initiatives such as the National Identification Number system and the Treasury Single Account have recorded some successes, many government digital platforms have struggled with reliability, user experience issues, and sustainability.
The education sector has been particularly affected by infrastructure challenges. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, many schools across Nigeria lack basic ICT facilities, and internet penetration remains low in rural areas where a significant proportion of teachers work.
The Registrar of TRCN, Dr Soyombo, could not be reached for comment at the time of filing this report. Multiple calls to the council’s official lines went unanswered, and messages sent to the council’s communication channels had not been responded to as at press time.
Observers have warned that unless the portal’s issues are urgently addressed, the setbacks could affect nationwide teacher credentialing, hinder promotion schedules, and risk increasing incidences of fraud in teacher certification. Such outcomes would undermine efforts to strengthen education quality across Nigeria at a time when the sector faces numerous challenges, including inadequate funding, infrastructure decay, and teacher shortages.
Education analysts have also noted that the portal failure could discourage qualified teachers from seeking formal registration, potentially creating a parallel system of unregistered educators whose qualifications and professional conduct cannot be adequately monitored.
The situation has raised broader questions about the planning, testing, and rollout of government digital services, with calls for more rigorous pilot phases, adequate investment in maintenance and support systems, and clearer communication channels between agencies and service users.
As teachers continue to navigate the challenges posed by the malfunctioning portal, many are calling for immediate intervention from both TRCN leadership and the Federal Ministry of Education to restore functionality to the system or provide viable alternatives that do not impose additional financial and logistical burdens on educators.