Only 2.4m out of 4m teachers qualify — TRCN

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has disclosed that only about 2.4 million out of Nigeria’s estimated four million teachers possess the necessary qualifications for teaching, leaving a significant gap in the education sector.

TRCN Registrar, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, highlighted that a substantial number of private school teachers fall short of TRCN’s qualification standards due to a lack of educational degrees specifically related to teaching.

The TRCN, an agency under Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Education, oversees the regulation and control of the teaching profession across all levels of the country’s education system, encompassing both public and private sectors.

Ajiboye emphasised, “Nigeria boasts nearly four million teachers, yet presently, only about 2.4 million are registered with TRCN. Our observations indicate that in private institutions, a considerable portion of educators lack the requisite qualifications to be registered by TRCN.”

The criteria for TRCN registration mandate a Bachelor of Education degree or a BSc/BA degree paired with a PGDE (Postgraduate Diploma in Education) or Professional Diploma in Education. However, many private school teachers do not meet these prerequisites, rendering them ineligible for TRCN registration.

This stark revelation resonates with UNESCO’s emphasis on Sustainable Development Goal Four, which underscores the critical importance of qualified teachers in advancing education quality and learning outcomes. UNESCO stresses the need for a substantial increase in the supply of trained teachers globally, particularly in developing nations, to achieve SDG 4’s objectives.

The TRCN’s findings underscore a pressing need for enhanced investment in teacher training and professional development to bridge the education gap and ensure quality education provision across Nigeria’s diverse educational landscape.