TRCN cancels teachers’ results over malpractice during qualifying exam

THE Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria ( TRCN) has cancelled results of some teachers, who engaged in malpractice during the professional qualifying examination ( PQE) held recently.

Also, the council disclosed that of the 15,753 teachers that sat for the examination, which was held across the country, about 3,963 failed.

TRCN conducts PQE to test the competence of teachers.

The Registrar of the council, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, said: “All the cases of examination malpractice reported were treated accordingly all over the country at the management level. And the results were cancelled as punitive measures. All the cases were identified or recorded because we have evidence against them.”

Although the registrar noted that the council was confronted with some challenges last year, TRCN was still able to achieve its set goals for the year 2023. For instance, Ajiboye said the over N150 million debt he met when he assumed office as Registrar had been cleared.

Reeling out some of its achievements, Ajiboye said PQE was conducted in over 100 institutions, while six batches were conducted online for Nigerians in diaspora and results released immediately. Besides, he disclosed that inductions were carried out in over 100 institutions, and appreciable progress made with development partners on professional standards. Speaking further, Ajiboye insisted that the teaching profession was no longer an all- comers affair or a “job for the boys.” He disclosed that thus far, over 2.3 million teachers have been registered, out of which over 400,000 have been fully licensed by the council.

He restated that about 50 per cent of teachers in private schools are not qualified, saying the council would soon begin to clamp down on them.

To achieve this, Ajiboye hinted of moves by the council to get a fiat from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, which would empower it to prosecute, and go after erring schools.

“The problem we have is that education is on the concurrent list. These private schools are not registered by the Federal Government; we have been discussing with the states to confirm the list of their teachers to ensure they are qualified.”