No fewer than 981 teachers in Kogi, on Saturday, sat for professional qualification examination (PQE), conducted by the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the examination would qualify the participants for certification as professional teachers.

The Kogi Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya, after monitoring the conduct of the examination at YABMA International Science Academy, Lokoja, told journalists that the turnout by teachers was impressive.

According to her, the state government has done public sensitization on the need for teachers to meet the minimum standard that has been set by the TRCN.

She said the turnout showed that everybody was aware of the December 2019 deadline set by the TRCN for teachers to be professionally qualified.

She noted that the number of teachers, who registered between 2018 and 2019 for the examination, had increased tremendously, assuring that the government would continue to give necessary support to teachers in the state.

While commending TRCN for its efforts, Osikoya stressed the need for the council to adequately plan for the conduct of the examination, saying there should be orientation seminars for candidates before the ex before the exercise.

According to her, there is obvious computer illiteracy among the teachers, adding that there is a need for teachers to take responsibility for their personal development.

“Capacity development should not be left for the government alone, but due to laziness and laxity, most of them do not want to learn, and that is part of the challenges we have today.

“The outcome of education is for us to raise people who can think; people who can reason and are curious enough to find solutions; teachers should model what they teach,” she stated.

The commissioner, however, urged school managers and proprietors to make facilities available in their schools to assist their teachers in computer literacy.

Earlier, Mrs. Zainab Lawal, the state Coordinator of TRCN, said a total of 981 teachers were writing the TRCN PQE in the state.

Lawal noted that the candidates arrived at the venue very late, noting that the major challenge was that most of the teachers didn’t know how to use a computer.

“Some of them are also not patient enough to carefully follow the instructions we have given to them.

“Though we have a nationwide server problem, we are working to rectify the issue as soon as possible. Everybody will write; they should only be patient,” the coordinator said.

Lawal noted that a total of 1,520 teachers in the state also wrote the same professional examination on Oct. 11 and Oct.12. NAN reports that the commissioner and her team also monitored the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) and degree second-semester exam, organised by the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) at the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja. (Vanguard)

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