Pulse.ng : Certification, licencing, major ingredients for teaching profession

By Sani Idris

The Kaduna State Coordinator of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Esther Ayuba, says certification and licencing are the major ingredients for the teaching profession.

Speaking to newsmen at the sideline of a two-day 2024 online conference of registered teachers in Kaduna, Ayuba said every trained teacher was supposed to obtain a certificate and licence before being allowed to teach.

The theme of the conference was ‘Advancing Teacher Professionalisation in Nigeria Towards Education 2030: Challenges, Strategies and Prospects’.

The conference was supported by UNESCO, Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE), UKaid, Safe the Children International (SCI), TY Danjuma Foundation, and DRPC.

Ayuba explained that TRCN, being an international member, offers teachers the opportunity to teach anywhere in the world with the TRCN’s certificate.

According to her, a trained, registered and licensed teacher is most qualified to teach, believing that he can maintain the professional knowledge, skills, values and ethics that binds the teaching profession.

She lamented that many trained teachers were yet to register with the council.

She, however,said sensitisation by the council has gone far while enforcement was taking place on ensuring that only registered teachers were allowed to teach.

“A lot of them have registered now, but have yet to receive their certificates because of the procedures.

”Every trained teacher in Nigeria, whether he/she is teaching or not, must register with the council.

“For professional pride, every teacher should register,”she said.

Describing teaching as the mother of all professions, Ayuba called on the government at all levels to encourage teachers with better welfare and remunerations as obtainable in other countries.

She hoped that at the end of the conference, teachers would be proactive in their areas of specialisation.

This is by knowing that they are professionals and utilise their right to make impact and change the narrative in the society.

Earlier, Dr Stella-Maria Nwokeocha, the Registrar of TRCN, said that a teacher was an important factor that cannot be overemphasised in the development of education.

She said Nigeria shared in the global concerns of teachers and teaching progression as raised in the global report on teachers by UNESCO on teachers/education 2030.

Nwokeocha explained that the report provided meaningful findings regarding teachers recruitment retention and professional development.

She also spoke on the interest of the African Union Commission through its continental education strategy for Africa since 2016 to 2025.

This is to ensure a quality education system and training that would meet the efficient human resources need of the African continent and its core values.

She, therefore, said, this called for continuous dialogue, workshops, training and conferences such as the annual conference on registered teachers in Nigeria .

The TRCN boss said that the dialogues were aimed at providing necessary encouragement needed to reposition the teaching profession to attain quality education and national building.

She equally said the annual conference was part of TRCN’s efforts to fulfill its mandate of professionalisation of teachers in Nigeria.

Nwokeocha added that the central focus of the conference was to deliberate and proffer solutions to emerging issues in education and learning in Nigeria and improving teaching outcome.

Also, the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the education's ministry, described teachers as critical factors in the development of education and the nation in general.

Sununu said that teachers needed professional preparations through adequate and informed exposure to training, conferences and seminars.

This, he said, would increase awareness and renewed commitment for effective teaching that would match international best practices.

Sununu, therefore, said the ministry was making progressive efforts to ensure quality and functional education in Nigeria and restore the dignity of the teaching profession.

He said the ministry had developed a new national teacher education policy to address critical issues such as career pathways, remunerations and teaching standards.

He added that over 7,200 education bursary awards had been offered to students to study education courses.

The minister also said the ministry’s DOTS policy would ensure that the nation’s educational system was equipped to produce competent and globally ready citizens.

He also said the policy was packaged to achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

The minister said,that the responsibility of the ministry does not end in recruiting teachers or providing classrooms for teaching and learning.

He said they ensure teachers training and retraining to help achieve major objectives of the nation’s educational system.

This, Sununu said, was to equip the learners with requisite knowledge and skills to enable them to realise their potential and become globally competitive.

He also said the conference was apt in the ministry’s collective efforts to reposition the teaching profession toward achieving sustainable development goal (4) and education 2030 agenda.

Sununu emphasised that national conferences were critical to all professional bodies, saying,”thisis a symbol of professionalism where people with great ideas rub minds to improve their profession.”

He commended TRCN for the milestone it achieved by institutionalising the online annual conference for registered teachers in a digital era.

Sununu called on all the stakeholders to work assiduously to ensure an enviable and enduring education sector that was imperative for national growth and development.

Some of the participants, Mercy Andrew, a teacher at LGEA Narayi Primary School and Mr David Kunanza, said they were faced with overcrowded learners per classroom and other unfavorable teaching conditions

The duo also said the employment of non professionals as teachers has negative consequences on children who end up not learning.

They called on TRCN to push further their plights to the appropriate authorities for actions.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that teachers who participated in the conference attracted 25 professional credit points (NAN)