52,000 teachers’ll take qualifying exams in October – Minister

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has said that about
52,000 teachers nationwide will sit for a professional and
qualifying examination organised by the Teachers Registration
Council of Nigeria, before the end of October.

The minister said the council had so far licensed about 200,000
teachers across the country, while warning that the date of exit
for unqualified teachers remained December 31, 2019.

Adamu stated this during a ministerial briefing held in Abuja to
mark the World Teacher’s Day on Wednesday.

The minister said, “In view of the prevalence of unqualified and
incompetent teachers in the country’s education system, the
ministry has repositioned the TRCN to professionalise teachers. The
council has registered about 2 million teachers and licensed about
200,000. The professional examination, which is conducted twice in
a year, between May and October, was introduced as a prerequisite
for registration. Currently, 52,000 candidates are expected to sit
for the October 2019 diet.

“The National Teachers Institute has also been in the forefront
of capacity building for primary school teachers aimed at improving
their pedagogical skills. The institute has been engaged with
upgrading unqualified teachers by providing courses of instruction,
bearing in mind that the exit date for unqualified teachers in our
educational system remains December 31, 2019.

“In a bid to also beef up its manpower, the Federal Ministry of
Education also recruited a total of 3,605 personnel comprising 905
education officers or teachers and 2,700 support staff.”

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, at the briefing, urged
the Federal Government to speed up the passage of the age-long
demand for the review of teachers’ retirement age from 60 to 65
years.

The NUT National President, Dr Muhammed Idris, said, “The
collaborative efforts of the ministry, our union and other
stakeholders to see that our long demand for the review of the
retirement age from 60 to 65 years is acknowledged.

“We will not rest on our oars until the bill is signed into law.
We are also aware of efforts to ensure that the National Secondary
Education Commission recently approved by the Federal Government
takes off effectively.”