Unqualified teachers must find their way out of the classroom, says Ajiboye

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has ordered unqualified teachers to quit the profession with immediate effect. The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Prof Olusegun Ajiboye who read the riot act in Abuja said the era of using incompetent teachers has come to an end.

Ajiboye pointed out that the council had made frantic efforts towards restoring the dignity of teachers, which would enhance their quality and professionalism, adding that consultations with relevant agencies under the Federal Ministry of Education was ongoing.

“As a regulatory agency, our aim is to match teacher quality, discipline, professionalism, reward and dignity with international standards. This is because teachers would agree with me that they are responsible for the production of the needed professionals to drive the other sectors of the economy”.

“The aphorism that a nation cannot grow beyond her teachers and the way it treats her teachers is a fact that should be taken seriously and that was what propelled my team to work relentlessly within the last one year towards upscaling teaching as a profession in Nigeria”.

Ajiboye disclosed that the council had registered, certify and licensed 26,350 teachers across the country in one year adding that induction of students at the point of graduation involved the administration of oath of allegiance by the graduating teachers.

The registrar also disclosed that in the last 12 months, the council had been able to dispatch 21 letters of professional standings to Nigerians seeking for teaching jobs abroad.

“The letter, akin to article of faith wherein various countries enter into agreement and such agreement covers the anecdotal records, moral standing and the educational background of the prospective applicants, adding that within the period under review, 24 letters of professional standing requests were made by Ontario College of Teachers, Canada (OCT), other teaching councils of Canada and the United Kingdom”.

Ajiboye said the council had concluded that the Teachers Qualification Examination (PQE) would hold on Saturday October 14, 2017 which would be conducted in all states of the federation including the FCT.

While commending the Federal Government, Ajiboye said, “I am very happy with the federal government for reinstating and the separation of Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) from Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) and for bringing back History as a course into the educational curriculum”.