A total of 12,586 candidates sat for the Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) conducted by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria in 35 States, including the Federal Capital Territory.
Director, Certification, and Licensing at the TRCN, Dr Jacinta Ogborso, who made this also disclosed that no candidate registered for the PQE in Zamfara State because of the security challenge.
She spoke during the weekend while monitoring the exercise in the FCT with the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Sonny Echono.
She said: “Registration for PQE was affected in Zamfara State due to communication and security issues in the state.”
Ogborso attributed the reduction in the numbers of candidates who registered for the November 2021 PQE to the previous surge the council had registered.
The Director added that a good number of teachers in Nigeria have been registered and certified by the council.
Nwajiuba revealed that plans are underway to begin the Teachers Exchange Programme with the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to develop the digital literacy capacity of teachers in Nigeria.
According to the Minister, the Federal Ministry of Education is working out details with the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to use digital bridge institutes across the six geo-political zones to enhance the computer knowledge of Nigerian teachers.
Nwajiuba also disclosed that the TRCN has been mandated to work with the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) to activate the One Teacher One Computer programme.
He said the ministry will enable laptop vendors to vend to teachers while they have the payment done within the period of two to four years.
The Minister applauded the conduct of the PQE and said he identified professional knowledge and teacher competence in the computer-based examination.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono, who also monitored the PQE at SASCON international school Maitama Abuja, hinted that the Career Path Progression for teachers in Nigeria has been approved at the government and National Council on Establishment level.
“We decided to resuscitate teaching profession in Nigeria through additional incentives and career paths. This is to ensure that teachers are actually specialized in specific areas; individuals in the teaching profession will now follow through a particular career path, we will now have people who will make specialise in School administration, curriculum, and special skills”.
Tribune
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