On Saturday, the first round of the Teachers Registration Council’s countrywide Professional Qualifying Examination attracted 11,350 applicants.
The TRCN, Nigeria’s regulatory body for teaching, administers the exam commonly referred to as the PQE.
According to reports from all around the nation, the exam was conducted without incident, according to TRCN Registrar Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, who made this announcement while observing the procedure at Sascon International School Maitama in Abuja.
Ajiboye said that Lagos State has the most candidates registered for the PQE with over 1,500 applicants, followed by Kano State and the Federal Capital Territory. Ajiboye was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo.
The TRCN boss noted that Kebbi State had the lowest number of participants in the exercise, stating the exercise, however, recorded tremendous improvement in terms of participation and the accreditation process.
“Well, generally, all over the country, we have about 11,350 candidates who are writing the exam, with Lagos State having the highest with 1500 plus candidates, followed by Kano State and FCT Abuja; then you have a state like Kebbi with the lowest number of candidates for the examination.
“There has been a lot of improvement with regards to even the accreditation procedure because part of what we did was to develop an app to be able to accredit candidates, and this is working perfectly well.
“We’re able to check your name, your passport photograph will also appear and everything like that, so we know that the people that are writing the exam are those who actually applied; so, it’s been going on smoothly,” he said.
He claimed that the test, which is given in each state under the federal government, began on Wednesday and was finished in some of them on Friday.
The candidates’ better conduct, according to Ajiboye, “shows that there is maturity and the people are now realizing that this is a serious examination,” he added.
Speaking about the Federal Government’s efforts to filter out ineligible instructors, he stated that the PQE is one of the main methods of doing so because it is now clear that no one can obtain a TRCN license without completing a provisional qualifying examination.
“Even if you’re a professor in the university, you just have to write this examination before you can get the certificate and the licence. So, part of the process for weeding out this quackery in the profession is what we are on. And another thing that we are doing in that regard is also school monitoring. You will recall that in February 2020, we started the school monitoring programme. two boards.
“Monitoring is a continuous exercise. So, we are still on, we will not relent. And we have also processes for checking our certificates, and the authenticity of those certificates. We have certain features in our certificates and the licence that actually will enable us to know whether it’s really a fake one or a genuine one. So, we are on top of it,” he said.
Also speaking, the Parament Secretary Federal Ministry of Education, Adejo, commended TRCN for the improvement in the accreditation process for the examination.
“This year, documentation has a double level; first, you identify yourself, fill out the form, then you also cross-check your sleep with an app that was developed to give it authenticity. So, I think they are improving on an incremental basis every year on the process for professional qualification exam for teachers,” he said.
