Funmi Lawrence
No fewer than 53,674 teachers who wrote the December Diet of the Teachers’ Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) have qualified to register for teaching licenses.
Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, the Registrar, Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), disclosed this in Abuja on Friday in an interview with the Newsmen
The examination, which was conducted in 47 centres across the country, started on Dec. 5 in states with a large number of candidates and ended on Dec. 7.
Ajiboye said that the results had been approved by the Governing Council of TRCN, adding that the 72,947 out of 77,296 teachers that registered participated in the examination.
“The result was not bad because the average performance of those who passed the examination is 73.58 per cent, which is 53,674 candidates, while 26.42 per cent which is 19,273 candidates failed.
“Going by the performances of the state, the teachers from Lagos State recorded 77.57 per cent followed by Ogun State with 77.58 per cent and Ogun State with 78.61 per cent.
“The performances of the candidates from other states are also very encouraging and the Federal Ministry of Education and TRCN Governing Board are happy with it,” he said.
He said that even though PQE was not an achievement test, it was important to ensure that an individual registered as a professional teacher.
He stressed that the council would not issue teaching certificate and license to any teacher without writing the examination.
“The deadline of Dec. 31 still certain but it does not mean the PQE has stopped. It has come to stay.
“We are planning to be organising the exams for teachers on a quarterly basis to help more teachers to enrol instead of writing twice in a year.
“We must have committed and qualified teachers; we also want to ensure that teaching environment is in order,” he said.
He added that “Those who failed any diet this year have the opportunity to re-enrol and re-write the examination with the new set.
“Those who also passed should go ahead to register at the centre close to them to be able to get their certificates and licences as qualified teachers”.
Ajiboye gave assurance that TRCN would not back down on its position to flush out unregistered or unqualified teachers out of the education system by Dec. 31.
“It is not only TRCN’s position but the position of the National Council on Education that has to be implemented. We will make sure we enforce the law and by January 2020, we will begin to move around for enforcement,” he said.
