FG DIGITALISES 2026 WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY AWARDS SELECTION AS 14 TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS SET FOR NATIONAL RECOGNITION
By Iroyin Yoruba Television
The Federal Government has digitalised the selection process for the 2026 World Teachers’ Day awards as Nigeria prepares to recognise outstanding teachers and schools during the national celebration scheduled for October 5.
The Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, disclosed the development during a press briefing in Abuja ahead of the annual celebration.
According to the minister, the 2026 selection process coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Education has been digitalised for the first time, with the objective of improving safety, accountability and documentation in the process of identifying teachers and schools for national recognition.
The exercise involved state Ministries of Education, which facilitated the selection process across the country before the nominations were processed through the new digital approach.
The change represents an effort to bring technology into an area of education administration that directly affects the recognition and motivation of teachers.
The World Teachers’ Day awards are designed to recognise educators whose work contributes to teaching, learning and the wider development of Nigeria's education system. The 2026 programme will include recognition for teachers and a Federal Unity College.
The minister said 14 awardees would be honoured during the 2026 celebration.
Three of the best teachers are expected to receive cars as part of the awards, while the best-performing Federal Unity College will receive a bus. Other award recipients are expected to receive laptops.
The awards are part of the government's annual programme for recognising contributions to education and highlighting the role teachers play in developing learners and strengthening the education system.
This year's celebration is being organised around the theme, “Transforming the Teacher Profession for Africa’s Future.”
The theme places attention on how the teaching profession can respond to changes affecting education across the continent.
Professor Ahmad identified five major pillars for the 2026 programme: innovation, mobility, artificial intelligence, inclusion and professional excellence.
The first pillar, innovation, is intended to encourage teachers to explore creative approaches to classroom instruction and make greater use of digital tools and locally relevant solutions.
Innovation in education can take different forms. It can involve the use of technology in teaching, new approaches to classroom management, locally developed learning materials, practical learning techniques or other methods designed to make education more responsive to students' needs.
The ministry's emphasis on innovation comes as Nigerian schools continue to operate in an environment where technology is becoming increasingly important to teaching and learning.
Digital devices, online educational resources and artificial intelligence tools are changing how information can be accessed and processed.
The government is therefore placing greater attention on preparing teachers to work within an education system where technology is becoming part of everyday teaching.
The second pillar highlighted by the minister is mobility.
Under the programme, mobility is expected to encourage teacher exchange programmes, cross-border collaboration and flexible career pathways.
Teacher mobility can allow educators to exchange knowledge and teaching experiences across institutions and countries. Such programmes can expose teachers to different classroom practices and educational systems while creating opportunities for professional networking.
For Nigeria, greater collaboration between teachers and education institutions across Africa could provide opportunities to share approaches to challenges that are common to many African education systems.
These include teacher shortages, unequal access to educational resources, the need for continuous professional development and the challenge of preparing students for economies increasingly influenced by technology.
The third pillar is artificial intelligence.
The minister said AI would be considered as a tool that can support personalised learning, data-driven decision-making and the reduction of some administrative duties carried out by teachers.
Artificial intelligence has become an increasingly prominent subject in education discussions because of its ability to process information, generate educational material and assist with certain administrative and analytical tasks.
However, the ministry has also stressed the importance of ethical and inclusive use.
The role of AI in schools raises questions about accuracy, privacy, access, academic integrity and the need for teachers to remain responsible for important educational decisions.
The government’s stated approach is therefore not simply to introduce AI tools but to consider how they can be used in ways that support teachers and learners.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers has similarly called for teachers to remain central to the education process as technology develops.
Audu Amba, the NUT national president, was represented at the Abuja briefing by the union's deputy national president, Kizito Kalu.
The union said technological innovations, including artificial intelligence, should strengthen rather than diminish the professional role of teachers.
The NUT also stressed the importance of investment in teacher training, welfare and professional development.
This emphasis reflects the reality that introducing new technology into schools requires teachers who understand how to use those tools effectively.
A digital education system can provide access to information and new teaching resources, but teachers remain responsible for guiding students, explaining difficult concepts, identifying learning challenges and providing human support in the classroom.
The fourth pillar of the 2026 World Teachers’ Day programme is inclusion.
The ministry said inclusion is intended to promote equitable access to quality education regardless of gender, ability, socioeconomic background or location.
Nigeria's education system covers a wide range of communities, from major urban centres to rural and hard-to-reach areas.
Students can face very different educational conditions depending on where they live and the resources available to their schools.
The inclusion pillar therefore places emphasis on ensuring that educational opportunities are not limited by a learner's location or personal circumstances.
The ministry also referred to culturally responsive teaching as part of the approach.
Such an approach recognises the importance of teaching methods and materials that take account of students' different cultural and social backgrounds.
The fifth pillar is professional excellence.
The ministry said this would focus on continuous professional development, fair remuneration, supportive policies and greater recognition of teachers' leadership roles.
Professional development is particularly relevant as teachers face changes in curriculum, technology, classroom practices and the expectations placed on schools.
Regular training can help educators update their knowledge and adapt to emerging requirements.
The issue of remuneration is also significant because teacher recruitment and retention depend partly on the conditions under which teachers work.
The ministry said it is working to attract qualified professionals into teaching while also retaining those already in the profession.
The approach combines recognition with broader efforts to strengthen the profession.
The annual World Teachers’ Day celebration provides an opportunity for the government and education stakeholders to discuss these issues publicly.
It also gives teachers an opportunity to receive recognition for their work.
The 2026 celebration will include a series of activities designed to create awareness, promote critical thinking and recognise teachers across the states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A march-past is scheduled to take place in Abuja on the final day of the celebration, with teachers from Nigeria's 36 states and the FCT expected to participate.
The event is also expected to showcase elements of Nigeria's cultural diversity and heritage.
The national gathering provides an opportunity to bring teachers from different parts of the country together while placing the teaching profession at the centre of public attention.
The decision to digitalise the award-selection process is one of the notable administrative changes associated with this year's programme.
According to the minister, the process was digitalised in line with African Union guidelines.
The stated purpose is to improve safety, accountability and the availability of records.
Digital records can make it easier for education authorities to organise nominations, maintain documentation and track information relating to candidates.
The use of digital systems can also reduce dependence on manual paperwork and potentially make it easier for information to be stored and retrieved.
However, the effectiveness of such a system will depend on the quality of implementation, access to the necessary technology and the ability of participating state education authorities to use the platform effectively.
The ministry's involvement with state Ministries of Education is important because teacher selection takes place across the country.
Nigeria's federal education authorities operate alongside state education authorities, and the states play a significant role in the administration of primary and secondary education.
The digital selection process therefore requires coordination between different levels of government.
The announcement of 14 awardees also means that the 2026 programme will place emphasis on individual and institutional recognition.
Three teachers will receive cars, while other awardees will receive laptops. A Federal Unity College will receive a bus.
These prizes are intended to recognise achievement and provide material support as part of the national celebration.
The government has also linked the awards to its broader objective of attracting and retaining qualified professionals in teaching.
Recognition can serve as a form of public acknowledgement of teachers' contributions, while professional development and improved working conditions address other aspects of the profession.
The NUT's position also highlights the importance of combining technological change with investment in people.
As schools adopt more digital tools, teachers require training that enables them to use those tools appropriately.
They also require access to adequate infrastructure and reliable systems.
Artificial intelligence, for example, may assist with certain tasks, but teachers still need the skills to assess AI-generated information and determine whether material is appropriate for their students.
The ministry's focus on ethical and inclusive AI use therefore forms part of a broader question about how Nigerian schools should adapt to rapidly changing technology.
The 2026 theme also connects teacher development with Africa's future.
Nigeria has one of the largest education systems on the continent, making the quality and preparedness of its teaching workforce important to the country's human-capital development.
Teachers influence the foundational knowledge, skills and attitudes that students carry into further education and employment.
Their role therefore extends beyond classroom instruction.
Teachers can contribute to literacy, numeracy, scientific understanding, digital skills, citizenship education and other areas required for social and economic development.
The government’s decision to place professional excellence among the five pillars reflects this wider role.
The ministry has said it wants teachers to receive continuous professional development and greater recognition for their leadership responsibilities.
The World Teachers’ Day programme will also provide an opportunity to discuss how teachers can adapt to emerging challenges.
The education sector is facing rapid technological changes, evolving labour-market requirements and continuing questions about equitable access to quality education.
Teachers are expected to respond to these developments while maintaining effective classroom instruction.
The ministry's five-pillar approach is intended to provide a framework for addressing some of these challenges.
Innovation focuses on teaching methods and tools.
Mobility addresses professional exchange and collaboration.
Artificial intelligence considers the use of emerging technology.
Inclusion focuses on equitable access.
Professional excellence addresses teacher development, working conditions and recognition.
Together, these areas form the central framework announced for the 2026 celebration.
The government's announcement also included information about foreign qualification verification.
Professor Ahmad said the ministry had automated its Education Support Services department to enable foreign institutions and employers to verify Nigerian academic qualifications online.
The system is intended to help prevent fraudulent claims involving academic certificates and protect Nigerians with genuine qualifications seeking opportunities outside the country.
The development is relevant to Nigeria's education system because academic qualification verification can affect graduates seeking employment, admission or other opportunities abroad.
An online verification mechanism can provide institutions and employers with a way to confirm qualifications directly through an official process.
It also forms part of the wider movement toward digitising education administration.
The combination of digital awards selection and automated qualification verification shows that technology is being applied to different areas of education administration, not only classroom teaching.
The government has not presented the digitalisation of the awards process as a replacement for teachers' professional role. Instead, the stated objective is to improve the administration and documentation of the selection process while technology is also considered as a tool to support education.
The NUT's position reinforces this distinction by calling for technology to strengthen rather than diminish teachers.
World Teachers’ Day is observed internationally on October 5 and has been used since 1994 to recognise teachers and draw attention to issues affecting the teaching profession.
Nigeria's 2026 celebration will take place against the background of ongoing discussions about teacher training, welfare, technology, professional recognition and access to quality education.
The planned awards will provide the ceremonial element of the celebration, while the five pillars provide the policy and professional-development themes around which discussions are expected to take place.
For teachers, the event will provide an opportunity for national recognition and professional engagement.
For policymakers, it provides a platform to discuss the future direction of the teaching profession.
For education stakeholders, the digitalisation of the selection process introduces a new administrative approach that can be assessed as the system is used.
The October 5 celebration will ultimately reveal the 14 recognised awardees and the Federal Unity College selected for national recognition.
Until then, the Federal Government's announcement has established the framework for the programme and explained the changes being introduced to the selection process.
The government says the digital system is designed to improve transparency, accountability and documentation, while the wider programme is focused on preparing teachers for changes affecting education across Nigeria and Africa.
The five areas of innovation, mobility, artificial intelligence, inclusion and professional excellence will form the central themes of the 2026 celebration.
The programme will also highlight the continuing importance of teachers at a time when technology is changing how education is delivered.
With the national celebration approaching on October 5, attention will now turn to the award recipients, the discussions surrounding teacher development and the implementation of the broader priorities announced by the Federal Ministry of Education.