By Amos Aar
THE Executive Chairman, Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Comrade Joseph Utse, has said that the Board will step up the monitoring of Basic Education teachers to register with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) in order to check quackery in the teaching profession.
Comrade Utse stated this Thursday at SUBEB headquarters, Makurdi during a sensitisation meeting with critical stakeholders in the education sector on the need for professional teachers to obtain TRCN certificate as required by the National Council on Education (NCE).
The Executive Chairman, who was represented by Permanent Member 3 at the Board, Mr. James Ahua, said the campaign for awareness on TRCN registration which is for both public and private sectors will make teaching dignifying and admirable like other professions if embraced by teachers.
Comrade Utse, who encouraged teachers to register for TRCN, announced that those who fail to comply will be sanctioned according to the TRCN Act. He added that in line with the TRCN, section 19(2) which prohibits the employment of unqualified or unregistered teachers, applicants without requisite teaching certificates will not be considered in the planned recruitment for basic education sector.
Also speaking, SUBEB Director of Quality Assurance, Mr Augustine Akula, gave assurance that they will intensify the monitoring of both private and public schools according to the requirements of the Federal Ministry of Education.
TRCN State Coordinator, Mr Ameh Idoko, explained that the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria is a federal government parastatal saddled with the responsibility of registering all professional teachers both in public and private schools. He therefore stressed the need for all professional teachers in Benue State to obtain TRCN certification, saying it will accord them integrity and provide an objective yardstick for the assessment of teachers to discharge their professional duties.
State chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Levy Terna Akuma, represented by Comrade Donald Pilla, said the NUT has been registering its teachers massively and will sustain the registration in order to upgrade the standard of education in Nigeria and Benue State in particular.
On his part, the chairman, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPSS), Makurdi local government chapter, Rev. Dr Daniel T. Pever, represented by the vice chairman, Mrs Rose Elaochi, said the sensitisation on TRCN registration at the meeting exposed them to the importance of the certificate, assuring that they would go back and encourage teachers to key into the TRCN registration.
In a goodwill message, the Education Secretary of Makurdi local government, Mr Patrick Aese, recommended a database for teachers to upgrade their service and achieve the expected target.
In her remarks, SUBEB Desk Officer, Mrs Juliana Andula, stated that a committee will be constituted to follow up on the activities in Benue zones A and C to ensure that the needful is done.
Fielding questions during the technical session, Director of Education, Mrs Margaret Iortim, and the Deputy Director of Quality Assurance, Dr Margaret Ugba, emphasised the need for public and private schools to be on the same page to achieve quality and standard.
