From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), at the weekend, restated its determination to sanitise the teaching profession by organising teachers’ Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) for 15, 750 candidates in the November Diet, across the country.
Dr. Jacinta Ezeahurukwe, TRCN’s Director of Certification and Licensing, told journalists at the SASCON International School, Abuja, an examination centre, that the PQE was designed to sanitise the teaching profession and ensure that teachers were licenced before going into the classrooms.
She confirmed that the examination took place across the country; it started on November 23, 2023, in some states, while others continued theirs on Friday and Saturday.
She explained further: “In all, we have 15,750 teachers that participated in the November diet for the Batch B across the country. PQE has become mandatory because teaching is a profession and for every profession, there must be a PQE.
Ezeahurukwe added that the qualifying examination provided content at the foundational knowledge that a teacher must possess and exhibit, as it is contained in the teachers’ professional standards.
She added that the results were expected to be out in two weeks. Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, in his remarks, commended the process, stressing that it would go a long way in improving the quality of teachers in the country.
Adejoh who was represented by Dr. Yusuf Saidi, the Director of Reform Coordination and Service Improvement in the ministry, said it would also encourage the quality teaching in schools.
Dr. Olu-Andrew Kayode, Nasarawa State Secretary of National Association of Private School (NAPPS), said the process of the examination would help to improve the quality of teachers in the country.
Some of the candidates expressed confidence in the examinations, saying that it would help the Council to weed off quacks from the system.
A school owner in Abuja, Mrs Chioma Okpara, who participated in the examination advised teachers who were yet to be certified to do so and benefit from the exercise.