The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) on Sunday said that presentation of certificates and degrees would no longer suffice for teachers’ registration.
The TRCN Director, Professional Operations, Dr Steve Nwokeocha, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that teachers would now write professional qualifying examinations.
“Teachers will no longer get registered by mere presentation of their certificates, but they will have to write professional examination.
“Teachers are to resume professional qualifying examinations, and the models are being developed and finalised,’’ he said.
Nwokeocha said the council was developing a standard syllabus as a professional body and would present it to stakeholders like National Universities Commission, among others, for validation.
According to him, once it is validated, we will set a date for the examination, and from there henceforth, there will be no registration without an examination.
He said that in 2008, a pilot examination was written and over 50,000 candidates wrote the examination in all states of the federation.
The director said this would be the second edition of the examination, adding that the first was experimental and recorded huge success.
He said that the council collaborated with the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in the first edition, stressing that it was written in the same manner that JAMB was written.
Nwokeocha said about 25,000 out of the 50,000 teachers that wrote the examination failed and this was reflective of the quality of training that they were getting.
“We had to suspend the pilot examination because the council did not have a syllabus at that time.
“And people asked that a few more things like a model, among others, should be put in place before the examination will be conducted again,’’ he said.
He said that the council had done its research and had developed a standard model, syllabus among others.
He added that the examination would be written twice yearly and that the council was making efforts to ensure standard and quality in the system.
Nwokeocha noted that writing of the professional examination was one way of eliminating quackery in the teaching profession even though it is multi-facetted.
He said prior to this time, a Nigerian Certificate of Education or a degree suffices, but experience “tells us that it is always good to validate the certificate that people hold.
“So this will address the quackery from that angle but not that it would address all aspects of quackery in the profession because we are making efforts to address other angles of quackery.’’
He said that the professional qualifying examination would be an international benchmark for teachers just like other countries.
