Career family
Education & Training
Helping people learn, from early years and schools to universities, workplaces and online.
- Mainly Helping & Teaching
- Also Leading & Enterprising
- Also Creating & Expressing
What the work involves
A closer look.
Teaching means planning lessons, explaining well, managing groups and caring about progress. Education also includes curriculum design, school leadership, edtech and corporate training.
Typical roles
- Teacher (primary or secondary)
- Lecturer
- Early years educator
- Special needs educator
- Corporate trainer
- Curriculum or learning designer
- School administrator
- Education programme officer
Entry routes in Nigeria
- Any SSCE stream, matched to the subject you would teach
- A degree in education (BEd or BSc Ed) or a degree plus a PGDE
- NCE through colleges of education
- Registration with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN)
Requirements change. Always verify with the official body, JAMB or the institution.
Skills that matter
- Explaining clearly
- Patience and encouragement
- Planning and organisation
- Managing a group
- Subject knowledge
By life stage
Where you could start.
Secondary school
Often-linked SSCE stream: Any. Check with your school.
Undergraduate
Education (with a subject), NCE, early childhood education, guidance and counselling, adult education. Internships: teaching practice, tutoring, edtech.
Fresh graduate
Classroom teacher, graduate assistant, tutor, training assistant, education programme assistant.
Young professional
Professionals from almost any field move into teaching their subject, training or learning design, often with a PGDE.
Vocational routes, entrepreneurship, public service and further study are all valid paths. We don’t show salaries or employment rates without a dated, verified source.
Ask a practitioner
Questions to ask.
Use these in a 15–20 minute conversation with someone who works in this family.
- What does a normal week look like for you?
- What do you enjoy most about the work, and what is hardest?
- How did you get into this field? Were there other routes you could have taken?
- Which subjects, courses or qualifications really matter, and which matter less than people think?
- What skills do you use every day that school didn’t teach you?
- What do people misunderstand about your job?
- If you were starting today, what would you do first?
- Who else should I talk to?
Test it
Ways to check if it suits you
Informational conversation
Talk to one person who does the work, using the questions on this page.
Job description review
Read three real adverts for roles in this family and list the requirements that keep coming up.
Small project
Try a small piece of the work yourself, then reflect on whether you enjoyed it.
Short course
Take a free or low-cost introductory course to test your interest before committing.
Job shadow or workplace visit
Spend a few hours watching the work happen. CPI arranges visits for participants.
Mentor conversation
Discuss what you have found with a mentor or coach.
Official qualification research
Check requirements with the professional body, JAMB, the institution or the employer directly.
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ExploreWant to know if this fits you?
Take the self-assessment, then use your roadmap to test this direction.