By Felix Khanoba
The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) says it has put mechanism in place to secure a fiat from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to prosecute schools parading unqualified teachers.
Registrar/Chief Executive of TRCN, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, made this known at a media parley in Abuja on Monday.
He said the fiat when secured will empower the Council on enforcement and compliance through the prosecution of unqualified teachers.
He said: “We are working with the AGF to get a fiat. It will help us to prosecute, go after erring institutions because the law establishing TRCN utterly gives us the power to prosecute. But we need the fiat to be able to do that.
“We are discussing with the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to be able to prosecute. And when we get that, it will not be difficult for us to be able to go after some of these institutions.
“The problem we have is that education is on the concurrent list. These private schools are not registered by the federal government, they are registered by state governments.
“We have been discussing with them to confirm the list of their teachers to ensure they are not cheaters but qualified.
“In 2024 I want to assure Nigerians that we will make sure we shift our focus with more emphasis on private schools.”
Speaking further, the TRCN boss revealed that 3,963 teachers failed the recently conducted Professional Qualifying Examination for teachers across the country.
He said 15,753 teachers sat for the November diet, adding that the PQE commenced on November 23 and ended on November 25, 2023.
“A total of 15,753 sat for the examination in 38 centres across the country. Out of this, we have 10,636 that passed. This is about 72.9 percent.
“And those that failed are 3,963 representing 37.1 percent. You will agree this is a very good result.
“All the cases of examination malpractices that were reported were treated accordingly all over the country at the management level. And the results cancelled as punitive measures. All the cases were identified or recorded because we have evidence against them.”
The registrar noted that the Council had been confronted with some challenges because of the nation’s transition in power.
Reeling out some of its achievements in 2023, he stated that PQE was conducted in over 100 institutions. Six batches of PQE were conducted online for Nigerians in the diaspora and results were released immediately.
Also, inductions were carried out in over 100 institutions, and appreciable progress was made with development partners on professional standards.
Speaking further, Ajiboye insisted that the teaching profession was no longer an all-comers affair or a “job for the boys”.
He disclosed that thus far, over 2.3 million teachers have been registered, out of which over 400,000 have been fully licensed by the Council.
He noted that less than 50 percent of teachers in private institutions were not qualified. The Registrar disclosed that TRCN would focus on private institutions where, according to him, a large chunk of challenges in the teaching sector was emanating from.
