Follow Us on Google
By Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has offered strong support to the Federal Government’s Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP), a six-month programme designed to provide a route to professional certification and licensing for more than 250,000 serving but unqualified teachers across the country.
The initiative is part of the Federal Government’s broader effort to strengthen teacher professionalism and improve the quality of teaching and learning in Nigerian schools by ensuring that serving teachers without recognised professional qualifications have a pathway to meet the required standards
TRCN in a statement, on Friday, noted that under the initiative, teachers who successfully complete the prescribed ATPP examination will be eligible to sit for the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) conducted by TRCN before they can be registered and issued professional teaching licences.
It noted that the programme, which will be implemented in cohorts, is targeted at untrained teachers currently teaching in public and private schools, with the objective of equipping them with the professional knowledge, skills and certification required to remain in the teaching profession.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who is leading the initiative said it’s being coordinated by a Technical Working Group chaired by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad.
It was noted that TRCN, in collaboration with the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, will drive the implementation of the programme, with support from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).
TRCN said the development is coming against the backdrop of concerns over the presence of teachers in Nigerian classrooms who possess academic qualifications in their subject areas but lack recognised professional teacher training and licences.
Such teachers, according to the council, have faced limitations in professional recognition and career progression, while remaining vulnerable to regulatory sanctions.
However, the ATPP is expected to provide a structured opportunity for such teachers to acquire the necessary professional training without necessarily leaving their jobs.
The six-month programme provides two pathways, namely the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) for graduates of non-education disciplines and the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) for candidates from the National Diploma cadre.
It will combine four months of blended learning, comprising self-paced online modules, virtual facilitation and assessments, with two months of supervised teaching practice in the participants’ schools.
At the end of the programme, successful participants will proceed to the TRCN Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) after which those who meet the requirements will be registered as professional teachers and issued licences.
The programme fee, officials said, covers certification and licensing, providing participants with an integrated pathway from professional training to registration.
The ATPP is expected to cover about 250,000 teachers nationwide, with participants mapped across federal, state and local government levels.
