Out of over 45,000 Delta teachers already registered with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, 15,000 have been licensed by the council, rating the state as one of the highest in the country that complied with the registration order issued to teachers by the council.
The state’s commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Patrick Ukah who has expressed satisfaction over the development, however, said it is not yet time to ask unregistered teachers to go.
More people should rather be encouraged to embrace teaching profession while the unregistered ones should be given opportunity to update themselves, he said.
Ukah spoke in reaction to the address of the State Coordinator of the Council, Lazarus Eze, when he led members of his staff to the commissioner’s office in Asaba.
He explained that the 1,000 teachers employed by the Okowa administration in 2019 were strictly qualified teachers with a minimum of first degree in education and pledged the state government’s cooperation with the council.
He assured the council that the state would continue to sustain its leading compliance by ensuring that more teachers register with the council.
Ukah, who pointed out that it was in a bid to enhance teachers’ professionalism, said the ministry under his watch had been carrying out consistent interfacing with teachers in the state through periodic monitoring activities.
While saying that the Ministry would review its data base to ascertain which sector recorded the highest compliance with the registration in the state, Chief Ukah called for all hands to be on deck in tackling examination malpractice in schools.
Eze had informed the commissioner that the purpose of the visit was to familiarise with the ministry and also intimate him with the activities of the council in the state.
He stated that the council was charged with the responsibility of registering and licensing qualified teachers, adding that in Delta State, a total of 45,000 teachers had been registered out of which 15,000 had been issued licenses.
He commended stakeholders in the state for the unprecedented compliance of the state in the registration and licensing of teachers, adding that the council was registering teachers directly until 2017 when the Professional Qualifying Examination was introduced. He added that the state was rated very high in compliance with the registration.
The state coordinator, who decried lack of teachers’ commitment to the examination, maintained that some of them were finding it difficult to pass the examination after some attempts.
