THE Registrar and Chief Executive of Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Professor Josiah Ajiboye has insisted that no category of teachers is exempted from the Professional Qualifying Examination being conducted by the council.
Ajiboye added that professors are also sitting for the examination in order to be licensed as qualified teachers to practice as it is done in other professions.
A total of 2.3 million teachers have so far been registered by the council, according to the statistics obtained from TRCN by Nigerian Tribune in Abuja.
The data indicated that Oyo State has the highest number of registered teachers with 136,029, followed by Lagos State with 128,260 and Delta State with 114,016, while Jigawa State has 19,879, Kebbi and Yobe states have the lowest rates with 23,283 and 23,511 respectively.
Speaking at an event organised by the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria ECAN) in Abuja, Ajiboye, disclosed that TRCN had taken up the responsibility of identifying unqualified teachers based on the National Council on Education (NCE) directive and accentuated by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu.
He noted that what TRCN was doing before was to receive certificates from everywhere as presented by teachers and for registration to become national teachers.
Ajiboye noted that the efforts at professionalising teaching in Nigeria had tremendously improved the quality of teaching and learning in schools while it had also improved the recognition being accorded to teachers as well as the education certificates being obtained in Nigeria.
He revealed that Nigerian teachers have been sought after in other countries of the world, noting that this year, he has signed letters of professional standing to over 260 Nigerians relocating to teach in Canada alone.
The TRCN boss reiterated the commitment of the council towards ensuring that unqualified teachers are weeded out of the system in the country.
He recalled that the Federal Government had set December 3, 2019 deadline for all teachers in Nigeria to be registered. Ajiboye added that TRCN in accordance with its mandates as stated in its enabling law – TRCN ACT CAP T3 of 2004, had notified the public in January, 2020 that a nationwide enforcement of the above decision would commence across the country from February 2020.
This could not be carried out, however, due to the COVID-19 outbreak which led to close down of schools and restrictions in accordance the measures put in place by the Federal Government to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
Ajiboye stressed on the important role teachers are playing in transforming educational delivery, saying that “in other nations, teachers generally are well respected in the society, and there has been clarion call on the public and parents to accord due respect, appreciation, and regard to the profession.
He said: “There is no doubt that teachers being at the centre of teaching and learning and despite the efforts of the government to ensure the quality of teachers leading the teaching and learning, there are still some unqualified/ underqualified in the system.
“Quality is as important as numbers; nevertheless, numbers do count.
“A lot of research has shown that there is a positive or significant relationship between teachers’ qualifications and students’ academic performance.
“Most unqualified teachers lack the competence to deliver quality teaching to their pupils. Such teachers have not been trained in employing the 21st-century skills in teaching, and most of the teachings are teacher-centered.
“These observations have demonstrated the cause of students’ poor academic performance in the countries to be the lack of qualified teachers,” he said.
