Teachers’ qualifying exam rescheduled in Zamfara, Sokoto over insecurity

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has rescheduled its professional qualifying examination (PQE) for teachers in Zamfara and Sokoto states over security concerns.

According to NAN, Jacinta Ogboso, TRCN’s acting director of certification and licensing, announced the development on Saturday while supervising the conduct of the examination in Abuja.

Ogboso said the exam would be conducted in the two states either online or at designated centres as soon as the security situation improves.

The acting director disclosed that out of 9,204 candidates who registered for the exam nationwide, Zamfara and Sokoto account for 151 and 125 candidates respectively.

“We have to reschedule the examination for Sokoto and Zamfara states because we want to be sure of the security situation. They are going to either write online or we find another time,” she said.

Ogboso said 663 candidates sat for the exam in the federal capital territory (FCT), adding that the figure is less than the number of candidates who wrote the examination in previous years.

She urged persons yet to identify as registered teachers in the country to take advantage of the PQE.

David Adejo, permanent secretary of federal ministry of education, who also monitored the exercise in Abuja, said teachers who have not registered to write the PQE are not teachers as far as Nigeria is concerned.

“In the medical profession, after your university, there is a compulsory exam you must pass before you become a doctor. So, those who have not passed through this process are only at best impersonating and government cannot allow that going forward,” she added.

“We need to standardise the teaching practice and this exam is one of the things that will do that.”