From Joseph Adahnu , Yola
The Federal College of Education (FCE) Yola, has commenced 14 degree programs without affiliating to any university.
The 2026/2027 academic year programs of admission is first ot its kind as against the degrees which the college has been running since 2014 in affiliation with the Uinversity of Maiduguri.
The Provost of the college, Dr Mohammed Degereji, who stated this in a press conference on the development, said the 14 programs are among 38 that the college was approved to run by the Nigeria Univestiy Commission (NUC).
Degereji disclosed that the 14 programs, all of which students are expected to apply for as the current session progresses, are BA Ed Arabic Education, BA ED English & Literary Studies, BA Ed Islamic Education, BSc Ed Biology Education, BSc Ed Chemistry Education, Bsc Ed Health Education, BSc Ed Mathematics, and BSc Ed Human kinetics.
Others include BSc Ed Agricultural Science Education, BSc Ed Physics Education, BA Ed Hausa Language Education, B.Ed Early Childhood Education, BSc. Ed Economics Education, and B.Sc Ed Business Educagion.
The Provost further explained that the degree programs will run simultaneously with the usual NCE programs this current year. He appealed to the Federal Government to harmonise NCE with degree programs so that both can run as one continuous program.
“I urge the Federal Government to expedite action to remedy the gap, to enable students do NCE and degree as one continous program, so that as students are rounding off their NCE, they continue with their degree,” he said, contending that if NCE and degrees are run separately, lots of students may be inclined to ignore NCE for degree programs.
According to him, this would not be a healthy development because Nigeria needs NCE certificate holders as middle level teachers.
FCE Yola is one of 15 federal colleges of education that the Federal Government has mandated to run full degree programs independent of university affiliation.
The other federal colleges of education so permitted include the FCE Obudu, Katsina, Eha-Amufu, Abeokuta, Katsina, and Okene; the federal college of educagion (Technical) in Bichi, Potiskum, Akoka, Omoku, Asaba, Umunze, Gombe, Gusau, and the Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo.

