By Marcus Ikechukwu
Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), has pledged that ongoing reforms initiated in the teaching profession was aimed at eliminating quacks from the system.
Ajiboye who is serving out his second and final term in office, used the medical and engineering professions to butress his position, saying both can be pardoned for minor mistakes made in the course of discharging their duties but a teaching staff cannot be pardoned because he or she can inflict generational pains.
He however said eliminating quackery would need the buy in of stakeholders including the media.
He made the statement, while delivering a key note address at a one-day workshop organised by TRCN for education correspondents with the theme: ” Sustaining Gains of Certification in Nigeria’s Teaching Profession”.
He said the growth of any nation is measured by the quality of education it produces and quality teaching professionals remains an invaluable factor.
According to him, teachers own the keys to national development so as we produce all other professionals, so should quality education be driven by quality teachers.
“In country like Finland, every qualification for teaching starts from Masters degree and do you know how they select their teachers, it is from the secondary school.
” They select the best of the best , it is a stringent process to get into teaching.
” In our country, we have to be interested in the quality of teachers. We should not allow the politicians to go and begin to bring people into teaching and say let them manage.
” This is not right, the country cannot progress in this way and that is why we have started certain programmes in the past few years,” he said.
Ajiboye also lauded the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, for the role played in ensuring that teaching profession was given a facelift through the approvals of welfare packages for teachers.
He noted that the Council had also increased the training of teachers in 24 states across the country from 30,000 to 45,000 teachers to deliver 21st century education and ensure professionalism in the sector.
“The minister has approved 45,000 teachers to be trained across 24 states, it was initially 30,000 before. We have done the first leg of the training of 7,500 teachers.
“If medical doctors or an engineer make mistakes, one life is destroyed but if a teacher makes a mistake, it is a generational mistake.
“So we must join forces to rescue this nation from quackery to deliver 21st century education for the country,” he added.
In a remark, Chuks Ukwuatu, Chairman, Education Correspondent Association of Nigeria (ECAN) lauded the efforts of the Council in promoting excellence in the sector through effective registration and licencing of teachers.
Ukwuatu said that these efforts were laudable as it had helped in promoting professionalism in the system.
He added that it had also restored a new hope of sanity in the sector both presently and in the future.