The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) says it will deal decisively with the issue of the quality of teachers in the country.
The Registrar of the council, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, gave this assurance while speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
“The issue of teacher quality is a continuous thing. We will continue to engage this issue, I am very sure that very soon Nigerians will begin to see the impact of what we are doing in TRCN.
“We are getting there now; because most states of the federation now when they want to employ teachers’ part of the criteria is the TRCN certificate.
“They now know that you must be a professional teacher before you are employed and it is now going to be very difficult for anybody that is not qualified, that is not registered, that is not licensed to now get into the teaching profession.
“And that is happening in all the states of the federation including making TRCN part of the promotion criteria which will also help us in improving teacher quality around the country.’’
The Registrar advised teachers on the need to develop themselves with new teaching technologies in order to impact on their students.
“The teaching job is a noble profession and we want our teachers to see it that way; they are nation builders’ and as nation builders they cannot afford to let the county down.
“ A teacher has to be on top of what he or she is teaching; not only in terms of knowledge of content but also in terms of how to teach – pedagogy.
“ So teachers have to be on top and in this days of technology teachers cannot afford to remain BBC teachers – Born Before Computer teacher, they have to be technologically compliant.
“ That is why we encourage our teachers to engage themselves with technology. Technology is a tool that they will need to delivery appropriately.’’
NAN
