45,000 Delta teachers make registration council’s list, 15000 get licensed

NNPC/Chevron JV donates six classroom block to community
The Delta State Government has expressed satisfaction with the rating as one of the highest states that has complied with the registration of over 45,000 teachers with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) of which 15,000 have been licensed.

Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Patrick Ukah, disclosed this while reacting to the address of the state Coordinator of TRCN, Lazarus Eze, when he visited the commissioner in Asaba yesterday.

Ukah assured the TRCN of the state’s readiness to sustain its compliance by ensuring that more teachers register with the council in a bid to enhance their professionalisation.

“The ministry under my watch has been carrying out consistent interfacing with teachers in the state through periodic monitoring activities.

“There is the need to encourage more people to embrace the teaching profession, as this is not the best time to ask unregistered teachers to go. Instead, they should be encouraged to do the necessary examinations that will qualify them to be licensed as the state needs more qualified teachers,” he said.

He noted that the 1,000 teachers employed by the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration in 2019 were qualified teachers with a minimum of first Degree in Education, pledging the state government’s continued cooperation with the TRCN.

He said, “The ministry would review its data base to ascertain which sector recorded the highest compliance with the registration in the state, while urging all hands to be deck in tackling examination malpractices in schools.

Speaking earlier, Eze informed the commissioner that the purpose of their visit was to familiarise with the ministry and brief the commissioner on the council’s activities in the state.

“The council was charged with the responsibility of registering and licensing qualified teachers. And in Delta State, no fewer than 45,000 teachers have been registered, of which 15,000 have been issued licenses,” he stated.

While commending stakeholders for the unprecedented compliance with the registration and licensing of teachers, he added that the council was registering teachers directly until 2017 when the Professional Qualifying Examination was introduced.

Meanwhile, the NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture (JV) in collaboration with the Delta State Government has donated a six-classroom block to Aruakpor-Umah Community in Uvwie Council Area for pupils of Abe 1 Primary School.

The six-classroom block, with eight toilets and a teachers’ office, was funded by the NNPC/Chevron Nigeria Limited’s JV and executed under a Project Specific Agreement (PSA) basis by the Aruakpor-Umah Community, which awarded the contract to Pyrammidt Company Nigeria Limited in December 2017.

Speaking during the commissioning, CNL’s General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs (PGPA), Esimaje Brikinn, who was represented by the Area Manager, PGPA Field Operations, Sam Daibo, said the project was one of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the NNPC/CNL JVs to improve the welfare of the people in its areas of operations and beyond.