No fewer than 30,000 teachers on Saturday sat for the May Diet of the Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) organised by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) nationwide.
Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, the TRCN Registrar, disclosed this during the monitoring of the examination at the FCT Centre.
Ajiboye said the examination which was conducted in 50 centres across the country started on Friday in states that have large number of candidates.
“The examination started on Friday with states that have candidates above 900; states like Bauchi, Imo, FCT, Jigawa, Kaduna, Imo and Plateau.
“Kaduna has the highest number this time, with a total of 3,258 candidates, Plateau has 2,768 candidates, Bauchi 2,177 candidates and Imo 2,132 candidates.”
The TRCN scribe said the large number of candidates was because of the Dec. 2019 deadline to flush unqualified teachers from the classrooms.
He said the examination had been going on seamlessly across the country.
“As you can see from accreditation to the examination, everything has been online and the examination is specific to each individual.
“If you are a PhD holder your own question will be different from masters degree holder.
“When you get to the examination, candidates have their pictures on the computer as they log in.
“I believe this is the way forward and TRCN has made the examination more credible and acceptable to Nigerians.”
Some candidates, who spoke with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the examination would help improve teacher’s quality in the country.
They also said the examination went on smoothly and there were no technical hitches.
Mr Onyebuchi Faith, a private school teacher, called on his colleagues to ensure they wrote the Examination before the Dec. 2019 deadline.
Faith said teachers in his school who had not written would write the next examination.
He called on the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) to ensure their members wrote the examination before the deadline.
According to him, government is doing everything to improve education and the teaching profession in Nigeria and we cannot be left behind.
1,564 candidates sat for the examination in the FCT. (NAN)
