The Delta State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Patrick Ukah, said that the state had licensed 15,000 teachers out of 45,000 registered with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
Ukah, who said this in a statement on Wednesday, expressed satisfaction that Delta State was rated as one of the highest in the country in the area of compliance.
According to him, the state will continue to sustain its lead in compliance by ensuring that more teachers registered with the council.
He said that in a bid to enhance their professionalism, the ministry under his watch had been carrying out consistent interfacing with teachers in the state through periodic monitoring activities.
The commissioner stressed the need to encourage more people to embrace the teaching profession.
He noted that this was not the best time to ask unregistered teachers to go adding that instead they should be given the opportunity to update themselves.
“One thousand teachers employed by the Okowa administration in 2019 were strictly qualified teachers with a minimum of first degree in education,’’ he stated.
Ukah pledged the state government’s cooperation with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria.
“The Ministry will review its database to ascertain which sector recorded the highest compliance with the registration in the state.
“All hands must be on deck in tackling examination malpractice in schools,’’ he said.
Ukah commended stakeholders in the state for the unprecedented compliance of the state in the registration and licensing of teachers.
He added that the council was registering teachers directly until 2017 when the Professional Qualifying Examination was introduced.
He decried a lack of teachers’ commitment to the examination and expressed dissatisfaction that some of them were finding it difficult to pass the examination after some attempts. (NAN)
