A total of 16,614 candidates have written the November diet of the Teachers’ Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) conducted by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) across the country.
The examination conducted in Abuja and major city centres in the country was hitch free, while officials of the Federal Ministry of Education monitored the process.
The acting registrar/chief executive officer of the council, Dr. Stella-Maria Nwokeocha, said TRCN was undergoing financial challenges following the delisting of the agency from those funded directly by the federal government.
Nwokeocha said the agency had to cut down its operational costs and depend on development partners to exist.
According to her, it has been harrowing taking staff on training and paying emoluments.
“We met so many challenges but we try to cut down on costs, everything boils down to sacrifice, for instance, staff of the agency, I praise them for that because they have been very understanding. For something like training, we had to cut down on drastically on that, instead we do group training.
“We are calling for improved funding, I have to be open with you, some development partners are helping us in certain ways, but we cannot rely on that alone, we are asking the government to put us back in its funding plan, even if they cannot put us back, they can decide to take up payment of staff salaries.”
The director, certification and licensing, TRCN, Dr Jacinta Ezeahurukwe, who spoke with newsmen yesterday, said the PQE was designed to test the professional knowledge of those in the teaching profession.
According to her, it is a prerequisite for licensing and certification of teachers in Nigeria.
