The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria’s Professional Qualifying Examination, PQE, witnessed an impressive turnout during its first batch. Over 11,350 registered candidates across all 36 states took part in the examination across the country with Lagos State topping the chart with over 1,500 entrants.
The exams commenced on Wednesday and continued until Friday in some states, according to the Registrar of TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye. The process was deemed successful, transparent, and reasonably error-free in all locations with an app introduced to accredit candidates, ensuring utmost security for the exam process. In this regard, Ajiboye said: “We’re able to check your name, your passport photograph, and everything like that, so we know that the people writing the exam applied, and it’s been going on smoothly.”
He further noted that the examination is a significant step in removing fake teachers from the teaching profession, emphasizing that even a professor in a university must write the examination to obtain a TRCN license. Hence, the examination is crucial in eradicating quackery in the teaching profession in Nigeria entirely.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr David Adejo, commended TRCN for its digitization of the exam process. According to him, “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 also restated the government’s commitment to ensuring that teachers in Nigeria meet a basic minimum requirement before being qualified to teach in any school.
Indeed, candidates were equipped with computer literacy skills to ease the exam process. The exams also serve as a means of establishing the authenticity of the applicants’ certificates using features peculiar to the TRCN certification process.
Despite the challenges experienced by some participants, a majority of them displayed composure and readiness to take their teaching careers to the next level. For instance, a candidate, Mrs Titilope Yunusa, spoke about her previous experience when she failed to make the cut in her first attempt stating that she had now acquired computer operation skills and was confident of a better outcome this time.
In a nutshell, the TRCN has made commendable efforts towards sanitizing the Nigerian teaching profession, and the Professional Qualifying Examinations serve as a litmus test in validating the competence of teachers across the country.
