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Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

No fewer than 15,750 teachers have sat for the November Diet of the Professional Qualifying Examination for teachers across Nigeria.

Speaking with journalists during the conduct of the examinations in Abuja, the Director, Certification and Licencing, TRCN, Dr. Jacinta Ezeahurukwe, said the examination would ensure that teachers were licenced before going into the classrooms.

Ezeahurukwe said the qualifying examination provided the content at the foundational knowledge that a teacher must possess and exhibit, saying this is however contained in the teachers’ professional standards.

She, therefore, said the results were expected to be out in two weeks.

According to him, “TRCN PQE is taking place all over the country, which started on November 23 in some states, some other states wrote yesterday and today the remaining states are writing.

“In all, we have 15,750 teachers writing the examination for the batch B across the country.  There was a time we conducted examinations for over 100,000 candidates. Our target is for those that have not registered.

“The examination is mandatory because teaching is a profession and for every profession, there must be a professional qualifying examination.

“One of the features of a profession is that apart from getting the academic qualification, the person must have a qualifying examination and must be registered and licensed.

“If you don’t write this examinations, how do we know you are qualified to be registered as a teacher? So this examination is not testing subject knowledge, it’s testing the professional knowledge of the teaching profession.”

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, who commended the process, said it would go a long way in improving the quality of teachers in the country.

Represented by the Director of Reform Coordination and Service Improvement in the ministry, Dr. Yusuf Saidi, Adejo said it would also encourage quality teaching in schools.

He called for more support for the council to deliver on their mandate in ensuring that Nigerian teachers are licenced to do their jobs.

“In any profession, we have a regulatory body, so what they need now is the necessary support to carry out their mandate.

 “So with this, you will see that the quality of teachers we produce will be as desired and as required. If you have a professional that anything goes there, this will regulate them.

“The TRCN is making sure that the same person that registered for the examinations is the same person writing them.

“So no one can go in there and write for anybody. This will go a long way in improving the quality of teachers in this country,” he said.