The Federal Government has declared that only professional teachers with First Class grade certificates will be employed beginning from next year, 2021 in Nigerian schools.
Also those with Second Class upper division wil be considered for employment into the teaching profession in the country.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Arc. Sonny Echonu made this known on Saturday while monitoring the conduct of Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) .
Echonu addressing newsmen in Abuja during the exercise, explained that the measure was part of government's renewed efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Nigerian schools.
No fewer than 17, 602 teachers from across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are expected to participate in the examinations.
He stressed that the decision was aimed at having only the best brains in Nigerian classrooms as teachers.
The Permanent Secretary insisted that as from 2021, only qualified teachers would be allowed to teach in the country.
A National Implementation Committee according to him, "will be inaugurated in the coming week to ensure Federal Government’s agenda on teachers registration and revitalisation was achieved, especially, the entry qualification for teachers in schools.
“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"., he revealed.
Echonu explained that conversion programmes would be organized for those without minimum qualification of Second Class upper division in education .
His words “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 to pseamless.out of our classrooms to make way for qualified personnel because we want to achieve learning and teaching and learning occurs in our schools”, he stated.
Echonu who expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the PQE, encouraged teachers who were yet to sit for the examinations to do so.
He added that government through the TRCN, would continue to conduct the examinations for teachers.
Also Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye disclosed that Nigerians in diaspora have begun to sit for the examinations via online platforms without necessarily travelling back to Nigeria.
He noted that their certificates would be sent across to them, saying the Council would also write to the Teaching Council of countries where Nigerians were seeking for or engaged in 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", Ajiboye stated .
“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. ",he stressed.
"We have Nigerians cutting across countries of the world now writing the examinations.”
Ajiboye who blamed the low number of candidates sitting for the present PQE diet on the COVID-19 pandemic, revealed that the next PQE would take place around the months of February and March next year.
“We have promised Nigerians we will have the examination minimum of twice in a year; that is why we have to go ahead.
He further disclosed that the regulatory council had begun registration of candidates for the next diet of the Professional Qualifying Examination.
"We have begun registration for the next diet which is going to come up around February/ March next year and the figure we are getting is rising.”
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