As part of efforts to strengthen its regulatory powers, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TCN, on Wednesday, disclosed that it has approached the National Assembly for an amendment to the Act establishing the Council to change its name to Teachers Regulatory Council of Nigeria.
Registrar of TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, stated this in Abuja while speaking as Guest Lecturer at the 24th Annual Seminar of the Nigerian Academy of Education with the theme: “Professionalisation of Teaching in Nigeria, Past, Present and Future.”
Ajiboye said although TRCN conducts registration of teachers, it performs other regulatory functions in terms of ensuring quality, monitoring and accreditation of programmes as well as providing training programmes for teachers.
“Part of things we are looking forward to in the future is a change in the name of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria to the Teacher Regulatory Council of Nigeria; it’s same TRCN. Actually, the idea behind that is that when you hear teachers’ registration council, people normally think that the function of TRCN is limited to registration of teachers.
“And we say no; although we register the teachers, we perform other regulatory functions in terms of ensuring quality, monitoring and accreditation of programmes and things like that. And then training programmes for teachers.
“So, we do more of regulation than just registration of teachers. We are not limited to registering teachers only. It’s Teachers’ Regulatory Council that would actually capture the essence of what we do at the level of TRCN. And that is why we are making that proposal to the House Committee on Basic Education,” he said.
The TRCN boss, who maintained that the TRCN is doing a lot to strengthen professionalism in the teaching profession in Nigeria, said strengthening of the teaching profession was not only limited to local benchmarking but also internationally, stating that between January and now, about 40 teachers have been given approval by the council for acceptance in Canada.
Also speaking, the President of the Nigerian Academy of Education, Prof Kabiru Isyaku, said if Nigeria wants to catch up with the rest of the world, it has to develop its teaching profession as that is where human capital development begins.
Isyaku emphasised the need for quality teachers as well as ensuring dedication and welfare of teachers, adding that if the country wants quality in everything education, it has to pay for it.
Reporting by Charles Ayo, editing by Daniel Adejo.