A total of 15,750 teachers participated in the November Diet of the Professional Qualifying Examination conducted nationwide by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria.
The purpose of this examination, as highlighted by the Director of Certification and Licensing at TRCN, Dr. Jacinta Ezeahurukwe, during discussions with journalists in Abuja, is to evaluate the professional knowledge of individuals within the teaching profession.
Dr. Ezeahurukwe emphasized that the examination serves as a critical step in ensuring that teachers obtain proper licensing before entering classrooms, underscoring the significance of their professional qualifications.
“TRCN PQE is taking place all over the nation. It started on November 23 in some states. Some other states wrote yesterday and today, the remaining states are writing.
“In all, we have 15,750 teachers writing the examination for the Batch B across the country. There was a time when we conducted exams for over 100,000 candidates. Our target is for those that have not registered.
“The exam is mandatory because teaching is a profession and for every profession, there must be a professional qualifying examination.
“One of the features of a profession is that apart from getting the academic qualification, the person must have a qualifying examination and must be registered and licensed.
“If you don’t write this examination, how do we know you are qualified to be registered as a teacher? So this examination is not testing subject knowledge, it’s about testing the professional knowledge of the teaching profession,” she said.
Ezeahurukwe highlighted that the qualifying examination assesses the foundational knowledge crucial for teachers to possess and demonstrate, constituting an integral aspect of their professional standards.
Furthermore, she mentioned that the results of the examination are anticipated to be released within a two-week timeframe.
“This is a computer-based examination and we expect that as candidates are writing, the computers are marking. However, we will still take our time to sieve out the results, analyse and look at them, and have the management consider and approve.
“The exams written in batches will not in any way lead to malpractices as no two persons can write the same exam.
“The questions are joggled and different categories have their own questions. The question for Category D, which is for NCE holders is different from Category C, which is for those with a first degree or Bachelor of Education or PGD.
“Questions for category B-Masters degree are also different from that of category A, and those with Ph.D. So the questions are never the same, they are according to your category,” she added.
