NEWS:(NIGERIA) NUT Urges FG To Address Anomalies In Teaching Profession The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) on Monday in Abuja urged the Federal Government to address various anomalies in the teaching profession. The Secretary General of NUT, Mr Obong Ikpe, made the call when a delegation from the Tanzania Ministry of Education and Vocational Training visited the NUT secretariat. He said that a proposal was put to government by NUT demanding the establishment of a teacher regulatory agency, which was approved by the government after a prolonged strike by the union in 1993. He said it took government 10 years before the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) finally took off in 2003. According to him, there is a need for government to make sure National Certificate in Education (NCE) remains the minimum qualification in the teaching profession. ``I am always worried when I hear about quacks in the teaching profession as the national policy on education is very clear. ``People had always felt that if you are looking for a job and when it is not forthcoming, you will go and mark time with teaching; this was the case prior to the establishment of TRCN. ``The minimum teaching profession is NCE, so if people still go ahead to recruit school certificate in the name of teaching whom are we to blame?’’ He added it was the duty of the government and employers of teachers to adhere strictly to the policy on education. He said that policy on education stated that every teacher must have an NCE in the teaching profession. Ikpe called on the government to work towards ensuring that all persons employed to teach are professional, certified and registered. ``The days when teaching was all comers affair are over and TRCN must work to fulfill its mandate of regulating the teaching profession,’’ he added. Dr Steve Nwokeocha, Director Operations of the TRCN, commended the pioneering role of NUT and the unions for their tireless effort to ensure the establishment of a regulatory body for teachers. ``This singular effort by NUT has been embraced by the African continent as most African countries are working towards setting up similar structures,’’ he said. He said a high-powered delegation from Tanzania was therefore in the country to understudy and adopt what TRCN had been doing in Nigeria. The leader of the delegates, Mrs Helen Liawa, Assistant Director, Teachers Education Department in Tanzania Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, commended the Nigerian government for having a regulatory body for teachers. Liawa said that their experience in Nigeria had given them much to take home and work with. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Tanzanian six-member delegation arrived in the country on Aug. 19 for a two-week visit to study the TRCN’s operations. It has already visited some institutions in Abuja which include private and public schools, as well as the federal Ministry of Education.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 17:59:49 +0000
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