TRCN Registers 53,000 Teachers, Vows to Curb Quackery

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), on Saturday, announced the registration of 53,000 teachers as part of its ongoing efforts to professionalise the teaching profession.

The Head of Legal/Private Schools at TRCN, Barrister Ukoha Juliet, disclosed this in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of a one-day capacity workshop organized by Rotary International District 9127 for over 100 educators in Abuja on Saturday.

Established by Decree 31 of 1993, now known as the TRCN Act CAP T3 of 2004, the council is tasked with regulating and overseeing the teaching profession in Nigeria.

Juliet emphasized the necessity of TRCN certification for teachers, asserting that it is crucial for maintaining high standards in classrooms.

She reiterated that the certification process is not merely a formality but essential for the quality of education, as it guarantees that teachers possess the requisite knowledge and skills.

Juliet said, “As of Thursday, last week, we have 53,000 teachers registered with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) and it’s very important because we need to make sure that those who are teaching our children are qualified.

“We cannot allow the quacks to be in the classroom. So, it’s very important apart from it being compulsory because it’s an art established in Nigeria. They must register with the Teachers Registration Council for them to be sure, let us be sure of who is teaching our children in the classroom.

“It is not just for the sake of professionalisation, it’s for the quality because you need to be sure who is teaching your children in the classroom. So, we want to be sure that they are qualified. For you to be qualified it means you have the required destiny for it.

“So, it is not just for you to be a professional, you just have to be qualified. You must go through the training for you to be a teacher because the training is different from normal classroom teaching. You have to know how to handle the children, you have to know what to say.

“If they’re not in a good mood you need to know. It’s a different training from the normal thing a lawyer learns in school. So, you just have to be qualified to be in the classroom’’.

Juliet also shared her own experience, revealing that, despite her background as a lawyer, she pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) to better equip herself for engaging with teachers and understanding their challenges.

“Yes, we do a lot. We advise them to go to NTI (National Teachers’ Institute, where they do PGD. Like me, I am a lawyer, but I had to go to get my PGD from Nasarawa State University for me to fit in because I felt I needed to equally know the things I was preaching about,’’, she said.

In response to the issue of unqualified teachers, Juliet noted that there are currently 520 educators in Enugu State lacking the necessary qualifications.

To support them, she noted that the TRCN had arranged for them to do a PGDE programme in NTI.

Juliet said: “We have 520 teachers in Enugu State who are teaching but they are not qualified. So, we made arrangements to send them to do PGDE in NTI. So that is a way of encouraging them to become qualified teachers’’.