No going back on qualifying examination for teachers —Minister

THE Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, has said that there is no going back in the Federal Government’s resolve to reintroduce the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE), which is billed to serve as a prerequisite for admittance into the teaching profession in the country.

This is just as the Kano State governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, stated that his administration is completely turning around the education sector for the delivery of inclusive, equitable and quality education through policies and laws which include ‘Kano State Free and Compulsory Primary Education (Law 2015), among others.

The minister made the assertion in Kano at the opening ceremony of the ministerial session of the 62nd National Council on Education (NCE) meeting holding in the state.

He advised teachers in the country to avail themselves of the two-year moratorium offered by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) to register and get certified for the programme.

Adamu said his ministry is ensuring the workability of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), noting that the development of any nation depends largely on the kind of education that is available to its citizens.

“It is not education for the sake of it, but functional education that propels a nation to the path of progress and development,” he said.

He said, “Inclusive education and quality learning opportunities for all can only be guaranteed through skilled and motivated workforce. Evidence shows that the strongest among the education systems are those that recruit and develop the best teachers.”

Kano State governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who was represented by his deputy, Professor Hafiz Abubakar, at the occasion described the theme of the meeting, ‘Inclusive Education: Creating Quality Learning Opportunities For All, Implications for Concurrency in Education in Nigeria’, as timely.