The federal government has said that teaching will no longer be an all- comers’ affair by ensuring that only professional teachers with First Class and Second Class degree certificates will be engaged as teachers as from 2021.
The permanent secretary in the federal ministry of education, Mr. Sonny Echonu disclosed this during a monitoring exercise of the professional qualifying examination organised by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) in Abuja yesterday.
No fewer than 17, 602 teachers from across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are expected to participate in the examinations.
“With effect from next year, we will not admit or engage people as teachers if they don’t meet a particular threshold. We are now limiting entry to only the best.
“You must have a first class or 2:1 as minimum and if you have qualification in other subjects that is not in education, we will arrange for a conversion programme to be administered by NTI, TRCN and any university that has faculties of education or this programme because you also have to learn ways of communicating and managing students.
“We are migrating teachers who are not qualified or do not have the requisite qualifications, competency, not licensed or registered…out of our classrooms to make way for qualified personnel because we want to achieve learning and teaching and learning occurs in our schools,” Echonu said while addressing journalists.
He said the policy was designed to give primary and secondary school teachers a clear vision of what the future holds for them as they start the profession.
“We are planning to lead entry for those with First Class or Second Class Upper as minimum, as we are serious about implementing the policy.
“Whether you are in the private sector, government, community or faith-based school, we will enforce this policy to the fullest.
“The first thing that is going to happen is that TRCN and NTI are compiling a database of qualified teachers.
“That is, those that have been certified and those who have taken this examination who are unemployed,” he said.
He added that “we are arranging an enhanced remuneration package for such teachers, those teaching sciences and peculiar allowances for teachers taking students with special needs.
“We are currently working on a special teacher’s salary scale. “We are finalising the figure with national salaries income and wages commission and as we speak some of them have been proposed.
“We are working with stakeholders on making a presentation with NUT. We are also considering views of employers like state governments and private school owners.”
In his remarks, the registrar and chief executive officer of TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye disclosed that Nigerians in diaspora had begun to sit for the examinations via online platforms without necessarily travelling back to Nigeria.
He said their certificates would be sent across to them adding that the council would write to the teaching councils of countries where Nigerians want to be engaged their education system as teachers.
“There are Nigerians in diaspora who before they can get any teaching position must show evidence they are professional teachers and that they are registered with their teaching regulatory authority before they left the country.
“To provide that evidence you need to write our exams because we cannot issue you the letter of professional standing without sitting for TRCN examination and so we have placed the examination online for Nigerians in the diaspora and the response has been very huge. We have Nigerians cutting across countries of the world now writing the examinations,” he said.
He added that council started PQE with 7.000 and rose to over 40,000 in 2019.
He said the 2020 figure dropped to 17, 602 due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.
“We have a short period to register teachers for the examination and perhaps that is why there is sharp drop in the number. However, we feel very strongly that we are going to pick up next year.
“We promised Nigerians to be having this examination at least two times a year that is why we have to go ahead. “We will also commence registration for the next diet or set for 2021 to be held between February and March,” he added.
