Over 15,750 teachers participated in the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria November Diet of the Professional Qualifying Examination across the country on Saturday.
Dr. Jacinta Ezeahurukwe, Director of Certification and Licensing at TRCN, emphasized the importance of the PQE in maintaining the quality of teaching in Nigeria. She explained that the exam is mandatory for all teachers and covers essential professional skills and knowledge.
“TRCN PQE is taking place all over the nation; it 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 Batch B across the country. There was a time, we conducted exams for over 100,000 candidates. Our target is for those that have not registered.
“The exam 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 examination, 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,’ she said.
Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, commended TRCN for conducting the PQE and expressed his belief that it will contribute to improving the quality of teachers in Nigeria. He also called for more support for the council to effectively carry out its mandate.
“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 exams is the same person writing the exams.
“So no one can go in there and write for anybody. This will go along ong way in improving the quality of teachers in this country,” he said.
