Over 200,000 teachers licensed by TRCN —FG

THE Federal Government has disclosed that the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has registered about two million and licensed about 200,000 teachers.

Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who made this known in Abuja, said the registration and licensing of teachers was part of the ongoing reforms to strengthen the quality of education in Nigeria.

He expressed concern about the prevalence of unqualified and incompetent teachers in the country’s education system, saying that the ministry had repositioned the TRCN to professionalise the teaching profession.

Adamu, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) which is conducted twice  a year—May and October— was introduced as prerequisite for Nwajiuba registration and licensing of professional teachers.

FG targets N8.155trn revenue in 2020 fiscal year

While disclosing that about 52,000 candidates were expected to sit for the October, 2019 examination, the minister said TRCN had made the PQE accessible to education graduates of teacher training institutions across the country, tagged Professional Qualifying Examination Integrated.

He noted that TRCN is also involved in accreditation, monitoring and supervision of courses and programmes of teacher training institutions in Nigeria.

“We are leaving no stone unturned in our quest to ensure that teachers are professionally qualified, empowered and adequately remunerated, motivated, and supported for efficiency and effectiveness,” he said.

According to him, the ministry recruited a total of 3,605 personnel comprising 905 officers (teachers) and 2,700 support staff in a bid to beef up its manpower.

He said: “The policy direction of this administration as regards education is to bequeath a legacy of a functional education system that focuses on self-reliance.

“For Nigeria to survive and be competitive in a globalised world, education will continue to be elevated as the main tool for peace, citizenship and entrepreneurship.

“The level of development of any society is directly related to the quality of education that is available to its citizens,” he said.