St. Augustine College of Education Akoka, Lagos

St. Augustine's College of Education (SACOED), also known as Project T.I.M.E., is an ecumenical teacher-training institution at 2 Moronfolu Street, by Pako Bus Stop, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos. It was set up in 1971 as a joint project of the Nigeria Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Christian Council of Nigeria to train teachers in moral and religious education, and it remains run in the Catholic tradition under voluntary agencies. Its stated vision is to enhance teacher quality for sustainable national development, and its mission is to produce specialist teachers for the total development of young people at all levels of the nation's education system.

The college is ecumenical in staffing, student body and curriculum: staff and students come from Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal and Muslim backgrounds and from different ethnic groups across Nigeria. Religious Studies covers Christianity and Islam, with elements of African Traditional Religion, and a weekly inter-faith and inter-denominational service is held.

NCE programmes, awarded by the college and accredited by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), are offered in Computer Science, Mathematics, Economics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Integrated Science, Religious Studies (CRS/IRS), Political Science, English Language, Social Studies, Business Education (Accounting and Secretarial Studies), Primary Education Studies and Early Childhood Care Education. Full-time NCE study takes 3 years and part-time 4 years.

Degree programmes are run in affiliation with the University of Ibadan, which awards the certificates, and are accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC). They include B.Sc(Ed) Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Economics and Political Science, B.A(Ed) English Language and CRS/IRS, B.Ed Social Studies, Educational Management, Early Childhood Education and Guidance and Counselling. Full-time study takes 4 years (3 by direct entry) and part-time distance study 5 years (4 by direct entry). Other offerings are a Professional Diploma in Education approved by the Teachers' Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), a Master of Education, a Professional Diploma in Computer Science (tracks include Cyber Security, Data Science, Digital Marketing, Graphics Design, Networking and Cloud Computing, Software Development and Web Development), and an 18-month Certificate and Diploma in Catechetical Studies delivered by contact classes and online.

The college has adopted the Federal Government's Dual Mandate policy for colleges of education, under which it is to stop running degrees through the University of Ibadan and become an autonomous awarder of both the NCE and bachelor's degrees in education once regulatory approvals are complete, with a five-year transitional period set by NCCE. Existing students are to continue their programmes with transition arrangements. Student life includes a Students' Representative Body, a Students' Parliamentary Council, a Dean of Students' Affairs, a Counselling Unit and optional hostel accommodation for male and female students; the college encourages entrepreneurship skill acquisition alongside studies.