No fewer than 15,750 teachers have sat for the November Diet of the Professional Qualifying Examination for teachers across the country, conducted by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
The examination is meant to test the professional knowledge of those in the teaching profession.
The Director, Certification and Licensing, TRCN, Dr. Jacinta Ezeahurukwe who spoke during the conduct of the examination in Abuja on Saturday, said the examination would ensure that teachers were licenced before going into the classrooms.
“TRCN PQE is taking place all over the nation, it started on Nov.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 the 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.
Ezeahurukwe said that the qualifying examination provided the content of the foundational knowledge that a teacher must possess and exhibit, saying this is however contained in the teacher’s professional standards.
She, therefore, said that the results were expected to be out in two weeks.
“This is a computer exam and we expect that as candidates are writing the computers are marking. However, we still take our time to sieve out the results, analyse it, look at it and have the management consider it and approve.
“The exams written in batches will not in any way lead to malpractices as no two persons write the same exams.
“The questions are jogged, different categories have their own questions. The question for category D, which is for NCE holders is different from category C- first degree or Bachelor of Education or PGD.
“Questions for category B-Masters degree are also different from that of category A, those with Ph.D. So the questions are never the same, they are according to your category,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, who commended the process said it would go a long way in improving the quality of teachers in the country.
Represented by the Director of Reform Coordination and Service Improvement in the ministry, Dr Yusuf Saidi, Adejo said it would also encourage quality teaching in schools.
He called for more support for the council to deliver on its mandate in ensuring that Nigerian teachers were licensed to do their jobs.
“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.”
