Only graduates who pass the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) will be issued licenses to teach, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has said. The regulatory body said its new guidelines would no longer allow graduates’ induction as qualification for teaching, emphasising that only graduates who pass through PQE will be licensed to teach.
The council’s Registrar, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, disclosed this during the 6th induction held for the graduates of the College of Education, Nsukka in Enugu State. The school is running Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) and Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) in affiliation with Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) in Uli, Anambra State.
Ajiboye said the screening was aimed at ensuring that those to be issued operating licences are those that met the standards set by the regulatory body.
The registrar, represented by the Director of Professional Operations, Mallam Adamu Bello, added that the PQE, which started last month, is a Computer-Based Test, pointing out that teachers without competent knowledge of computer operation might encounter problem in the examination. He advised prospective teachers to be computer-compliant.
Ajiboye said: “Knowledge is supreme and all sectors are expected to be manned only by individuals whose capabilities and comprehension of the sectors are not in doubt. This implies that teaching, just like other professions, requires that only those who are adequately prepared in knowledge and skills shall be entrusted with the task of managing our education.”
He noted that Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, had given a marching order to TRCN to hand over “Professional Standards for Nigeria Teachers” to all governors and Commissioners of Education. The document, he said, contains everything professional teachers must know and put into practice.
The registrar advised the graduands to access vital documents regarding professionalisation of teaching to be properly guided while in practice.
The Acting Provost of the college, Dr Okwudili Nwosu, said the presence of non-professionals and unqualified teachers remained the bane of education, noting that it was time the teachers’ regulatory body purged the profession of quacks. According to provost, teaching is a calling and it should be guarded jealously for the interest of the education.
In his induction lecture titled: The teacher as a moral agent: A look at the overlooked, Prof A. Akubue, who is the Dean of Faculty of Education of Ebonyi State University (EBSU), said present crop of teachers had abandoned the moral side in teaching, which, he said, involves “what is good, right and virtuous” .
He said majority of teachers did not believe the values they take into the classroom may have impact on the Intelligent Quotient (IQ) and Moral Quotient (MQ) of their students. He advised teachers not leave bad impression in the profession, urging them to be role model and moral advisers in building good mannered generation.
A total number of 346 graduands were inducted at the ceremony, with 278 graduated with NCE while 68 had PDE.
