‘Nigeria has only 1.5 million registered teachers’

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has disclosed that the country currently has about 1.5 million registered and certified teachers.

TRCN said this is below the number needed in the country.

The new TRCN Registrar/Chief Executive, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye who disclosed this at a briefing yesterday in Abuja, said the figure is expected to double soon due to the massive campaign the council has planned to carry out.

He said: “TRCN over the years has registered and duly certified over 1.5 million teachers across the country. This figure will double in a very short while because the council would henceforth embark on an aggressive campaign towards revamping the system for more productivity.”

The head of TRCN added that the proposed recruitment of 500,000 teachers by the Federal Government, if well implemented would bridge the deficit of instructors in the country’s education system.

Prof. Ajiboye explained that the council is working on a modality that would ensure that employers of teachers at the federal, state and private levels across the country make teachers’ registration certification and licence by TRCN become a pre-requisite for getting teaching jobs in the country.

He said the council had put a mechanism in place to ensure that teachers who wish to travel outside the country enjoy equal treatment and status with their counterparts in other countries.

“We have issued letters of professional standing to Nigerian teachers in Canada, South Africa, Australia, United States of America. This letter issued by TRCN to qualified, certified and duly licensed teachers help them when seeking appointment in other countries.”

Prof. Ajiboye said that the council would focus on accreditation, monitoring and supervision of courses and programmes for teachers’ education in Nigeria.

“So far, 54 institutions have been granted provisional approval to run the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE).”

He stated further that TRCN had been re-positioned to restore the lost glory of the teaching profession in Nigeria.