From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
No fewer than 11,350 candidates participated in the first batch of the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) conducted by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) across the country for the purpose of awarding professional licence to the successful teachers.
Data from TRCN indicated that Lagos State had the highest number of applicants, followed by Kano State and the FCT, respectively, while Kebbi State had the lowest number of applicants.
TRCN explained that PQE was one of the measures introduced by the Federal Ministry of Education to weed out unqualified teachers and quacks in the teaching profession, stressing that nobody can get the TRCN licence without passing the PQE provisional qualifying examination.
TRCN Registrar, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, confirmed to journalists at the examination centre in Abuja, yesterday, that the exercise went smoothly across the country, based on reports from state representatives.
He said: “There has been a lot of improvement with regards to accreditation and other procedures. Part of what we did was to develop software that would enable us accredit candidates; and this is working perfectly well.
“We are able to check the candidate’s name, passport photograph and every other thing like that. So, we know that the people that are writing the examination are those who actually applied; so, it’s been going on smoothly,” he said.
Ajiboye said the examination, which is conducted in all the states of the federation, started Wednesday and was concluded in some states on Friday, while some states concluded theirs yesterday.
He commended the candidates for displaying good character, support and comportment, adding that their conduct was an indication that there is maturity and the people are now realizing that this is serious examination.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. David Adejo, who also monitored the exercise at Sascon International School Maitama, Abuja, commended TRCN for the improvement in the accreditation process for the examination.
He explained that this year’s documentation exercise was on a double level. “First, the candidate identifies his or herself, fill the form, then also crosscheck the slip with the software for further authenticity.”
