By Alice Etuka, Abuja
The Director of Certification and Licensing of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Dr. Jacinta Ezeahurukwe has said that Benue state produced the highest number of candidates out of the 12,539 who sat for the first batch of its Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) this year.
Ezeahurukwe disclosed this on Saturday, May 18, 2024 while fielding questions from journalists during the Professional Qualifying Examination in Abuja.
She explained that, “the PQE for teachers who are to be registered and licensed in Nigeria takes place two times every year in May and November”.
She informed that 12,539 candidates registered nationwide for this batch. While Benue state accounted for 1416, 1410 candidates registered from Osun state, while the FCT accounted for 650 candidates.
However, Cross River and Ebonyi states had the lowest number of candidates with 59 and 69 candidates respectively.
Speaking on the impact of the examination, Dr. Ezeahurukwe averred that, “the impact of the examination is being felt widely, that is why the number of coverage of this exam increases every day.
“Everybody knows that the teaching profession has gotten to the level that it is highly recognized both nationally and internationally.
“Everyone knows that you cannot just walk into a class now and say you are a teacher, you must be registered and licensed by the TRCN for you to answer or practice as a teacher.
“And for you to do that, everybody in Nigeria has known that you cannot be registered and licensed without going through the Professional Qualifying Examination because that is one of the prerequisite for the registration.
“For every profession, there must be a professional qualifying examination and since October 14, 2017 TRCN starting this Professional Qualifying Examination and it has come to stay, it is a criteria.
“Even internationally, they’ve recognised it and they’ve looked at the processes of this examination and have found it credible that even the UK granted Nigeria as one of those countries in Africa that they allow their teachers apply for the QTS, that is Qualified Teachers Status”, she said.
