No fewer than 12,539 teachers nationwide sat for the May diet of the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) which began on Thursday and ended on Saturday.

The qualification examination is conducted by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) to test the professional competence of teachers.

Speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Saturday, Director, Certification and Licensing at the TRCN, Dr Jacinta Ezeahurukwe, said the examination ensured that qualified teachers remained in the classroom across the country.

Ezeahurukwe said the impact of the exercise had widely been felt both nationally and internationally.

She said ‘no PQE, no staying in the classroom’ was enforced in 2019 with deadlines and this resulted in having many teachers coming out to obtain their PQE.

“Everybody knows that the teaching profession has gotten to a level that is highly recognised internationally and nationally.

“And everybody knows that you cannot just walk into a class now and say you are a teacher, you must be registered and licensed by TRCN for you to practice.

“Since 2014 TRCN has started this PQE and it has come to stay. Even internationally, they have recognised it and they have looked at the processes of examination,” Ezeahurukwe said.

She said people have found it very credible that the UK has even granted Nigeria one of those countries in Africa that they allow their teachers to apply for Qualifying Teachers Status.

The Director explained that the qualifying examination established foundational knowledge that a teacher must possess and exhibit as contained in professional teaching standards.

She said for the May diet examination, Benue state came top with 1,416 as the highest number of registered candidates followed by Osun state with 1,410 registration.

Ezeahurukwe said that Cross River State came last with 59 persons followed by Ebonyi State with 69.

She said that Nigerians are now aware of the importance of the qualifying exams saying that hardly is there any school in any state that recruit teachers that does not have the TRCN certification and license.

According to Ezeahurukwe, YRCN is making sure every state and every organisation recruiting teachers from the primary to tertiary institutions must have a qualified teacher.

“We have introduced this to our graduating education students and are also caught at the point graduation.

“It is an induction at the point of graduation where education students in Colleges of Education, faculties and institute of education, after their final exams apply for the TRCN PQE.

“The exams is conducted for them in schools, so majority of our graduating students registered at the point of graduation so they are not outside to battle with those who graduated earlier,” she said.

One of the teachers, Agnes Agbo from Veritas University, said she was prompted to take part in the examination to continue in the teaching profession, as well have the opportunity to travel if the need arise.

Agbo said the examination was successful as the hitch experienced earlier was quickly rectified by the monitoring team.