Lokoja
The imperative of ensuring that teachers in kogi state get qualified, registered and licensed got a firm root in the state on Monday.
This follows the commencement of the Teachers Registration by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), starting from Lokoja, the state capital.
All things being, stake holders expressed belief that the exercise would arrest the fallen standard of education in the state.
Duaglobalnews reports that the enforcement is made mandatory by the National Council on Education to improve the quality of education in the country.
To actulise the aims and objectives of the enforcement, a team from the Federal Ministry of Education, led by Dr Umar Hassan, Provost, Federal College of Education, Okene, kogi state visited some schools in Lokoja, the state capital for enforcement of the mandate.
In the team of the provost were representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, TRCN, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS).
Hassan disclosed that the exercise happened simultaneously in the 36 states of the country.
He stressed that the exercise was to add value to the teaching profession and make sure that the right things were done without having to intimidate teachers.
“Where the teachers are found to be lacking in one way or the other, our mandate is to encourage them and let them be aware of what they need to do.
”The exercise will also enable teachers to be more marketable. We don’t want the teaching job to be for an all comers affair; it must be regulated,” he said.
He urged teachers in the state to ensure that they complete the three stages: certification, qualification, register and get licensed to be called real teachers.
According to the State Coodiinator of TRCN in Kogi, Mrs Zainab Lawal, the minimum qualification for a teacher in Nigeria is the National Certificate in Education (NCE).
”If you have an NCE, you are qualified as a teacher to write our Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE). “But if you fail, you have to rewrite it until you pass.
”We want to make sure that we have qualified teachers who know what they are doing and can defend their certificates,” she said.
Lawal, who said that the professional qualifying examination was usually conducted three times in a year, urged qualified teachers to take advantage of the exercise and register to get certified.
Mr Thomas Ayodele, State Chairman of NUT,xpressed the commitment of the union to ensure the success of the exercise.
He was represented at the occasion by Mr Idris Mohammed, the Public Relations Officer of NUT.
The NUT boss in the state, however, called on the government to improve teachers’ remuneration, to boost their productive.
The team took tour of JULITOLA International School, IRAWO Secondary School, EAGLES Academy, N/P School, Lokogonma, among others.
Speaking with the team, Mr John Toyin, a teacher,lauded TRCN for embarking on the exercise, but noted that it was entirely different from what the media informed the teachers about the issue in the state.
