Introduction to the Teaching Profession PDF

**MODULE 0101 - PDE 5110** **INTRODUCTION TO THE TEACHING PROFESSION** **Ibrahim Ahmed Ango (5)** **1.0 Introduction\ **Teaching is said to be the mother of all professions. This is true because there is an element of teaching in every profession. Nobody can be a professional in whatever field wi...

**MODULE 0101 - PDE 5110** **INTRODUCTION TO THE TEACHING PROFESSION** **Ibrahim Ahmed Ango (5)** **1.0 Introduction\ **Teaching is said to be the mother of all professions. This is true because there is an element of teaching in every profession. Nobody can be a professional in whatever field without being taught by a teacher of that field in the first place. In spite of this fact, teaching has never been regarded or recognized as a **[noble]** profession all over the world. Right from the ancient times and probably up till today, only three professions are regarded and widely recognized as noble. These are the Legal, the Medical and the Divinity (i,e. Priesthood) Professions. In view of the above fact, there is the need to discuss professionalism in general and the teaching profession in particular. **3.0 Main Contents** **3.1 Definition and characteristics of a Profession** A profession can generally be defined as any [field of work] that has been successfully professionalized. Professionalizing a field of work can be explained to mean that From the above definition, the following can be considered as the characteristics of a profession:- a. It is a field of work with members. b. The members are a disciplined group of individuals who hold themselves out and are accepted by the public as possessing special high level knowledge and skill derived from Research, Education and Training. c. The members are ready to adhere to a specified ethical standards. d. The members are prepared to apply such knowledge and exercise such skills for the interest and benefit of others e. The field has a regulatory body to assess, license and enforce discipline on members. Although there are many fields of work that are considered by the public as professions, it should be said that not all of them meet the criteria of a noble profession. **3.2 Definition of teaching and types of teachers.** Teaching can be defined as the act of imparting some knowledge and/or skills to other person(s).\ \ An [ordinary teacher] is defined as anybody that has acquired some knowledge and/or skills who has put himself out and is ready to impart such knowledge or skill to another person(s). A [qualified teacher] is any ordinary teacher who has, in addition, also acquired the separate knowledge and techniques of teaching (i.e. Pedagogy). A [professional teacher] is any qualified and professionally licensed teacher who is ready to discipline him/herself and is also ready to adhere to the ethical standards of the teaching profession; and is also ready to subject him/herself to the mandatory CPD (i.e. Continuous Professional Development). 3. **The practice of professional teaching.** **3.3.1 [The practice in the developed nations -- USA and UK examples]** Professionalism has firmly taken its roots overseas and this is clearly reflected in the very rigorous requirements for professional recognition and registration abroad. Whether it is teaching, medical, legal, engineering, pharmacy, nursing and other professions, an individual is mandatorily required not only to undertake years of approved training but also must pass through supervised practical exposure before licensure. Even after the registration of a professional, he is expected to continuously improve his knowledge and skills through on-going professional development. In most professions, only practitioners that earn the minimum credits specified for on-going professional development can have their licenses renewed and have their names retained on the register of those professionals. Teaching abroad is such a very serious profession that it is absolutely criminal for an individual to be found teaching in the classroom without a teaching license. Where such happens, the entire society will be agitated and panic-stricken. This is so because parents want to be absolutely sure that their children and wards are safe at school learning only legitimate and approved curriculum under the most competent teachers. They fear leaving their children and wards in the hands of persons who would abuse and molest them physically, emotionally and sexually; they fear leaving them in the hands of those who would fail to implement the curriculum but rather help to nurture and sustain the culture of examination malpractice; they fear leaving them in the hands of incompetent persons who could kill the talents in their children and wards through wrong teaching methods and poor evaluation; etc. For all these and more reasons, the entry of quacks into their classrooms is banned and the teaching councils are given statutory powers to hold the children in trust for the parents and to ensure that no harm befalls them. The Teaching Regulatory Councils are therefore the custodian of teaching morality and standards and are held accountable by the public for breaches bothering on incompetence, negligence and misconduct of teachers. In the United States of America, each of the 50 States of the USA has its teaching regulatory authority that ensures that no one enters the profession without complying with very strict professional standards. Part of these standards is a professional qualifying examination (PQE) called PRAXIS TEST. To practice in any state in USA, an individual must sit and pass the PRAXIS and other related tests in addition to other requirements such as criminal background checks, etc. But again, passing the professional qualifying examination in one state of the USA does not entitle one to practice teaching in another State of the USA. Therefore, if an individual moves from state to state in the USA, each state has the duty to test the person again to be sure of his or her competency before issuing him or her a license to teach in the new State. A person is exempted from writing the test only if his or her previous and new states have a bilateral agreement or understanding to recognize the licensure of each other. However, to teach in all states across the USA, an individual is required to pass a national qualifying PRAXIS examination or examination conducted by the National Board for Professional Standards or other acceptable national qualifications. This goes a long way to show how, not only the parents, but also the states and nation of the USA jealously guard the sanctity of their educational system particularly the teaching service. The story is not different in the United Kingdom where each province has a General Teaching Council -- The General Teaching Council for Wales and the General Teaching Council for Scotland. In these provinces, no individual can be found in the classroom without teaching licensure of the respective General Teaching Councils. The General Teaching Councils prescribe minimum teaching requirements which include what constitutes a "Qualified Teaching Status" part of which is theoretical and practical examination of persons aspiring to teach as well as background checks to ensure that the person is free from criminal traits. **\ 3.3.2 [The Professional practice in the third world -- Nigerian example]** In Nigeria, many non-teaching professions have equally made their marks by adhering to global standards and which is why their regulatory bodies are proud members of the global bodies regulating these professions. This fact is true for Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering and other professions in Nigeria. For instance, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) relates even with the World Health Organization to the point that if the Council denies any university accreditation in Nigeria, the information is sent to the World Health Organization and consequently, various other countries in that network will also de-recognize medical doctors that graduate from such a university. This was the case in 2012 when the media in Nigeria reported that Nigerian doctors from certain universities in the country have been de-recognized by the United Kingdom. It was later when the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria restored the accreditation of such universities that the graduates of the universities were once again recognized across the world. Therefore, if there is any sector of Nigeria that is aspiring and closing up with global benchmarks, it is the non-teaching professions.\ \ Across the medical, dental, legal, pharmacy and other fields, a professional is not made until and unless appropriate degree is earned, followed by internships and professional qualifying examinations which may be written, practical or a combination of both. Most of these professions also take five years to earn their first degrees and admission to the degree courses must be based on at least five credit passes at ordinary school level which must include English and Mathematics, as the case may be. The Law graduate for instance, proceeds to the Law School for another one year of tedious full time residency study. The medical, dental, and pharmacy graduate equally undertakes strictly supervised internship. Even other professions like accountancy governed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), get their graduates to undertake several tasking preparatory studies lasting for months and ending up in professional qualifying examinations in several fundamental accounting and financial courses. In comparison with medicine, law, pharmacy, engineering, the teaching profession has not fared well because, until the commencement of the "TEACHERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL OF NIGERIA (TRCN) in 1993, it was an all-comers job with more than a half of the teachers in the system being unqualified. Even with the commencement of TRCN and over ten-year-long advocacy and blend of programmes to rid the profession of quacks, the success has been modest. Individuals are still found in the classrooms as teachers across the country without teaching qualification or professional certification. The training that teachers go through still varies and falls below the standards that lawyers and doctors pass through. For instance, while doctors spend seven years, the lawyers and engineers spend five years to earn their degrees, you have persons parading as teachers who never attended tertiary education while others have either three year Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) or four year degree certificate. Again, while the law graduates head to Law School and the medical doctor undertakes internship after their graduation, the teachers move straight to the classroom and start practicing with or without registration by TRCN. This absurdity has cast the teaching profession in a bad light and reversed its fortune from being first among equals to being an underdog among the professions. It is such absurdity in the teaching profession that the TRCN's professional qualifying examination (PQE) aims at addressing, in addition to other efforts being made by TRCN and stakeholders to deal with quackery and poor quality of professionals in the field. For purposes of illustration, a few literature is reviewed at this point to show what other professions in Nigeria are doing to keep their professional standards high. The following information about the legal profession in Nigeria are provided by the Nigerian Law School (http://www.nigerianlawschool.edu.ng; http://mynlsp.com/), the Nigerian Bar Association (http://www.nba.org.ng) and other sources (http://www.thepurposedrivenachiever.com/2012/11/how-to-become-lawyer-in-nigeria.html;n Okoroma, 2013; etc.)\ \ These are the requirements for membership of the legal profession: *\ (i) The individual must have studied law at the university and passed the basic courses as stipulated by the Council of Legal Education in Nigeria.\ \ (ii) The individual must have the qualifying certificate from Nigerian Law School by passing the Bar Examinations and be ascertained by the body of Benchers to be a Fit and Proper person.\ \ (iii)The individual must have been called to the Nigerian Bar by the body of Benchers.\ \ *Admission into the Law degree programme in Nigerian universities attracts the best scoring students in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organized by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB). The ordinary level subjects required for the study include English Language, Literature in English, and Mathematics which must be passed at credit level. There may also be direct entry admission for candidates with Nigeria Certificate in Education, Higher National Diploma or First Degree. The candidate spends five years for UTME route or four years for the direct entry route and upon graduation earns LL.B degree. Then the candidate undertakes the one year studies at the Nigerian Law School (set up by the Legal Education Act of 1962). The one-year study terminates with the Bar Part II examinations leading to the award of the B.L certificate. The candidate is consequently called to the Bar by the Body of Benchers as provided by the Legal Practitioners Act. This is followed by enrolment as a Legal Practitioner at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.\ \ *Persons educated in foreign countries can only practice law in Nigeria after being trained at the Nigeria Law School. For this purpose, the course is broken into two parts. The first part - Bar Part I - is designed for persons educated in foreign countries. The courses taken are Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Nigeria Legal System and Nigerian Land Law. The second part is for all students whether trained in Nigeria or not. The courses taken include Civil Procedure, Company Law and Commercial Practice, Criminal Procedure, Law of Evidence, Legal drafting and Conveyancing, Professional Ethics, Legal Practitioner\'s Accounts, Law Office Management and General Paper. For the students trained outside Nigeria therefore, they must first take and pass the Bar Part I examinations before they can join the students trained in Nigeria for the Bar Part II course. These courses - Bar Part I and Bar Part II are taught by the academic staff of the Nigeria Law School and outside experts - Judges, Senior lawyers and accountants - who are called in to deliver lectures from time to time.* (http://www.thepurposedrivenachiever.com/2012/11/how-to-become-lawyer-in-nigeria.html)\ \ The Medical and Dental Practitioners Act CAP M8 of 2004 which established the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) also gave it powers to regulate and control the medical and dental education and practice in Nigeria. In what the MDCN (2006) called *―The Red Book: Guidelines on Minimum Standards of Medical and Dental Education in Nigeria‖*, it asserts its overall authority to regulate medical and dental education in Nigeria thus:\ \ *One of the statutory functions of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria is to approve the institutions at which courses of training are to be given for persons who are seeking to become members of the Medical and Dental professions as well as the courses of instruction prescribed and the qualifications to be granted by such institutions. Council also has the responsibility for supervising the nature of the instructions and the examinations leading to the qualifications to be granted in these cases (vide Medical and Dental Practitioners Decree No. 23 of 1988, Sections I (2a), 8( I a & b) and 9 (1,3 & 4), after several reviews, the enabling Act is now CAP M8.\ In pursuance of these duties, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria sends visitation panels from time to time to inspect newly established medical schools with a view to approving formally their training programmes as required by the law.\ *The MDCN Red Book spells out in detail the step-by-step conditions that must be complied with by every faculty of medicine or medical institution before the courses could be accredited. Experience shows that the MDCN had meticulously adhered to the provisions of its Red Book and this explains why some Nigerian universities have lost the accreditation of the MDCN and faced a lot of negative publicity in the local and international media. The Red book specifies the quantity and quality of academic personnel, physical infrastructure and facilities, admissions criteria, number of students to be admitted, courses and programmes that must be run and no medical institution expecting accreditation dares to violate the provisions. The MDCN further sets conditions for the registration and licensing of medical graduates, which includes supervised internships which have in-built practical tests and reports that help the MDCN to determine the suitability of the medical graduate to practice.\ \ The Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) also has a very tight grip on the practice of engineering in Nigeria. Like the laws of the MDCN, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, the COREN law also gives it powers to determine persons who could practice engineering in Nigeria, set standards for the practice and monitor the compliance by engineering education faculties and institutions and practicing engineers themselves (http://www.coren.gov.ng). COREN registers not only engineers but also their engineering consulting firms; and prescribes and enforces the conditions for such registration. On its website the following and related details of the regulation by COREN are displayed:-\ *\ In Section 1 (i) subsections (a) and (b) and subsection (3) of Section (4) of COREN enabling decree, Council is empowered to determine who are engineering personnel and to register them in their respective registers. Council has been able to regulate, as contained in its publication CP3 that a person desiring to become a registered Engineering Personnel must, after obtaining the approved/accredited required academic qualification, must have four (4) years post-graduate experience which must be under the supervision of a senior registered Engineer. Council believes that the continuing effectiveness of an engineering personnel depends on his contact with a recognized professional society and therefore advises engineering personnel to belong to a recognized professional society. It must be emphasized that membership of a society does not by itself grant automatic right to registration. Council still needs to satisfy itself that the academic qualification is registrable for the category applied for.\ \ *COREN gave the following as list of entry qualifications into its various professional cadres such as engineers, engineering technologists, engineering technicians, and engineering craftsmen and the abbreviation to be used by the various cadres:-\ \ *(i) B. Sc, B. Eng, B. Tech in Engineering; Higher National Diploma (HND) in Engineering from COREN accredited polytechnics or monotechnics. National Diploma (ND) in Engineering from accredited Polytechnics or Monotechnics.\ \ (ii) HND in an Engineering field + COREN accredited PGD in the same field e.g. HND Civil Engineering + PGD Civil Engineering\ (iii) Degrees in Engineering from East Bloc translated as B. Sc in Engineering\ \ (iv) Full Technological Certificate (FTC). Advance Technician Diploma. Trade Test\ \ (v) Diploma -- Engineer from Continental Europe. Diploma- Graduate from Continental Europe. Craft Certificate from City & Guilds.\ \ (vi) Degrees in Engineering from the East Bloc translated as M. Sc. B. Tech in Engineering from some accredited American Universities as contained in ABET list.\ \ (vii) New B. Sc in some countries in Eastern Bloc as degree.\ \ *The abbreviations are:-\ *(i) Registered Engineer shall use the abbreviation \"Engr\" before his name\ (ii) Registered Engineering Technologists shall use the abbreviation \"Engn. Tech\" after his name.\ (iii)Registered Engineering Technician shall use the abbreviation \"Tech\" after his name.\ (iv) Registered Engineering Craftsman shall use his full title \"Craftsman\" with his trade in bracket under his name.\ \ *Specifically for registration of foreign engineers and their firms, COREN law and guidelines provide that:\ \ (i) Foreign Engineers that are given provisional registration cannot register a 100% owned Engineering Consulting Firm.\ \ (ii) Foreign Engineers who are COREN registered and desire to register a Consulting Firm can only do so in Partnership with the Nigerian Engineer.\ \ (iii)The Partnership agreement must put the Nigerian Engineer on the Lead as a major shareholder (i.e 55% of the shares) while his foreign counterpart holds a minority shareholding.\ (iv) Consulting firms should reflect the fact that they are consulting firms when registering with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).\ \ (v) Memorandum of the Association should specify that the company is solely in consulting business.\ \ One more example of how Nigerian professions deal with registration of professionals is the case of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), which is one of the most famous for administration of professional qualifying examination in Nigeria. ICAN (2010) provides details for the training and examination of candidates intending to register as professional accountants and the categories of registration, and indicates that its training and examination syllabus adheres to the requirements of the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the World Bank Report on Observance of Standards and Codes (2004). The accounting training or education goes through three stages known as the Foundation Level which is knowledge based; the Intermediate Level which is skills based; and the Professional I and Professional II levels which are areas of essential and core competencies. Candidates have to pass a 15-paper examinations choosing a minimum of one and a maximum of three faculties of interests out of the six faculties, namely:\ \ (i) Audit, Investigations and Forensic Accounting\ (ii) Taxation and Fiscal Policy Management\ (iii) Consultancy and Information Technology\ (iv) Insolvency and Corporate Re-engineering\ (v) Public Finance Management and\ (vi) Corporate Finance Management. The two categories are *Chartered Accountant* and *Registered Accountant*, with the following criteria as set out by ICAN (2010):\ *A person shall be enrolled as a Chartered Accountant if:-\ \ (i) He/she passes the qualifying examination for membership conducted by the Council of the Institute and completes a prescribed practical training under the relevant sections of the syllabus.\ \ (ii) He/she holds a qualification granted outside Nigeria and for the time being accepted by the Institute, and\ \ (iii) He/she satisfies the Council of the Institute that he/she had sufficient practical experience as an Accountant. A person is entitled to be registered as a Registered Accountant if :-\ \ He/she satisfies the Council of the Institute that immediately before the appointed day (i.e. September 1, 1965), he/she has had not less than five years' experience as an inspector and auditor of company affairs under the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.\ \ *ICAN further states that "a member of the Institute is not allowed to set up a public practice as an accountant until he/she has applied for, and has been granted a license to practice by the Council, and a member is not eligible for this license until he/she has, for a continuous period of thirty months before or after or partly before and partly after becoming a member of the Institute, been employed in a responsible accountancy position in the office of a qualified accountant in public practice in Nigeria or elsewhere in accordance with the Membership Rules 12 and 13 made in pursuance of Section 15(2)(d) and (e) of the ICAN Act."\ \ After this extensive review of professional requirements and practices in Nigeria, it could be observed that professionalization has taken its grip on Nigeria and the tide is not abetting. Under this circumstance, inability by the teaching profession to regulate and control its services in like manner only poses danger to the profession and leads to loss of public respectability and career prospects for teachers. This partially explains the need to properly regulate teaching in Nigeria which includes the case of institutionalizing a PQE culture for the profession.\ **\ ** **3.4.1 Efforts in professionalizing teaching in Nigeria as a third world nation\ \ **In considering the various efforts that are being made towards professionalizing teaching in Nigeria, let us look at what some eminent stakeholders had to say in the 2014 1^st^ edition of the TRCN National Benchmarks for its Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE):-\ \ **A. Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau CON, Nigerian Former Minister of Education (2014)**\ **"**The Federal Ministry of Education at all times seek to break new grounds that will impact concretely and positively on the quality of education delivery in the country. There is no gainsaying the fact that education is the key to development and that the teacher through its pivotal role in the education system holds the key to development. This explains why every time we get the teacher factor right, the education system moves several steps ahead, exerting a multiplier effect on the learning process, the future of the Nigerian child and the overall prosperity of this great country, Nigeria.\ \ It is against this background that on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education I am very elated to present to the public this very novel benchmark designed to enhance quality assurance in the teaching profession. The full implementation of the Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination Benchmark will guarantee that teachers who hold professional registration and licensing under the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are truly tested and meet not only national but global and competitive standards. This is a very great step forward towards eradicating the use of the teaching profession as a dumping ground for quacks and as a stepping stone for other jobs.\ \ The commencement of the Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination Benchmark underscores the seriousness of the Federal Government to bring to an end the employment of unqualified teachers in the school system, be it in the public or private schools. The Examination will help separate the quacks from the real teachers and the school system will no longer be a place for those who have not passed the litmus test as teachers. Therefore, the prima facie evidence of a qualified teacher shall be the passing of the Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination and the possession of a teacher's registration certificate and teaching license which are all in consonance with the prescriptions of the Law.\ \ As one of the most vibrant and successful agencies of the Federal Ministry of Education, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria will continue to receive very strong backing from the Ministry in the course of implementing all aspects of its statutory responsibilities. I therefore urge all stakeholders to join the Ministry and the Council to ensure that Teaching as a Profession is restored to its original pre-eminent position among the professions**"**\ **\ B. Professor Greg O. Iwu, OON, Chairman, TRCN Governing Board (2014)\ "**The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) Act CAP T3 of 2004 (originally TRCN Decree No. 31 of 1993) saddled the Council with the responsibilities of determining who can be called a teacher in Nigeria, setting the standards that must be attained by teachers and raising the standards from time to time. The Law goes further to state that the Council shall regulate and control teaching in "all its aspects and ramifications". By implication therefore, the Council oversees the quality of teaching at all levels of the education system from the pre-primary to the university levels. It is also the responsibility of the Council to assure quality not only in the public but also privately owned educational institutions.\ \ These are very critical prescriptions of the Law which the Council is not ready to compromise in any way. Consequently, the Governing Board of TRCN is ceaselessly coming up with a complex set of strategies to deliver each and every intention of the Law and to leave the Teaching Profession better than we met it. The Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination Benchmark is just one of such strategies.\ \ \ The coming into force of the Benchmark implies that Teachers will no longer be registered to practice as teachers unless they pass the prescribed professional qualifying examination in the same manner that other professionals like the Medical doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, etc pass relevant examinations to prove their suitability for professional practice.\ \ One other strategy among several others being pushed forward by the Governing Board to raise the quality of teachers is the accreditation and continuous monitoring of teacher education programmes in the Faculties and Colleges of Education throughout Nigeria. Though this is a tedious and expensive exercise considering the large number of Teacher Education institutions in Nigeria and financial constraints, the Council is determined to achieve the relevant targets.\ \ Again, accreditation and monitoring of the education of would-be professionals by the professional regulatory agencies are not only national but international best practices and the Council has no intention of operating below national or international standards.\ \ Besides the Professional Qualifying Examination, the Council is also interested in periodically re-assessing the quality of teachers serving in the schools. Therefore, the Council has written all State Governors and Honorable Commissioners of Education to clear the fact that the testing of the "competency" of serving teachers is the statutory responsibility of the Council. To this end, the Council is currently developing a Teachers Competency Test Framework that will be used by the Council in collaboration with the states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory to assess the developmental needs of serving teachers, from time to time. These ambitious efforts by the Council therefore call for the support of the teachers themselves, employers of teachers, state governments, and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians in order to create a new teaching profession that befits our dear great country and which can guarantee the production of school graduates that are capable of competing globally.**"**\ \ **C. Professor Addison Mark Wokocha, FNAE, FNIM, JP, NPOM. Registrar/Chief Executive TRCN (2014)\ "**Since the commencement of operations in the year 2000, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria has sought to restore the lost glory of the teaching profession. It is often said that Teaching is the mother of all professions and the noblest of them all. However, teaching as a profession over the years succumbed to certain historical factors that robbed it of its glory and relegated it to the background. The worst aspect of this is that teaching became an "all-comers" job where anyone who could read or write can claim to be a teacher. In the ensuing confusion, it became difficult to ascertain who truly is a teacher; and the qualified teachers now come to share the blame arising from the professional incompetence and misconduct of the unqualified teachers because it is difficult to tell "who is who" in the profession. With this, the social status of all teachers plummeted and aspiring young fellows now avoid the teaching career like a plague.\ \ However, with the establishment of TRCN, the stage was set to squarely address these ills and to bring a sort of justice to the real teachers who have passed through the rigours of appropriate teacher education, imbibed the ethics of the teaching profession and have practically demonstrated their pedagogical prowess as stipulated by the Professional Standards for Teachers in Nigeria. The ascendancy of the Council in the actualization of its mandates has reverberated not only throughout Nigeria but also across the African continent and the world at large. This led to the unanimous adoption of Nigeria by the African countries as the Headquarters of the Teaching Regulatory Authorities in the continent. Similarly, the world body of the Teaching Councils based in Canada (the International Forum of Teaching Regulatory Authorities) recently also chose TRCN as Africa's sole representative in the Executive Board of that world body. Today, a Nigerian teacher with TRCN registration certificate and license is treated with automatic admission into the teaching profession of any country anywhere in the world. This was contrary to the situation TRCN met on ground where Nigerian teachers who wished to teach abroad were denied recognition and were asked to go for re-education before being registered and licensed to practice in those countries. The fact therefore cannot be over-emphasized that the work that the Council is doing is essentially building a new image of the teaching profession not only in this country but also around the world. Consequently, TRCN will not relent in forging ahead with its repositioning agenda and I have no doubt that posterity will judge all in glowing terms who rendered support to the cause of the teachers through collaboration with the Council.**"**\ \ **D. Professor Steve Nwokeocha, FNIM, FCoT (UK). Director of Professional Operations TRCN (2014)**\ **"**The TRCN Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) was at a time very audacious project that we shuddered to contemplate. Then, several factors kept us wondering whether or not we should venture into the conduct of professional qualifying examinations for teachers -- the factors included the huge number of teachers estimated at over 1.5 million, the financial implications of the examinations, the logistical nightmare and the fact that it would be the first time that teachers would write professional qualifying examination in Nigeria. Notwithstanding these fears, however, TRCN took the "bull by the horn" to prove its capability to do whatever is necessary to lift-up the teaching profession and to enable it reclaim its position in the comity of the professions. Therefore, over 50,000 teachers who applied for registration in 2008 were made to write the first ever professional qualified examinations in Nigeria. The conduct of that examination turned out to be far more stress-free than ever imagined with a result that was very instructive -- about 50% (25,000) of the teachers who wrote the examination passed while another 50% (25,000 teachers) failed. Only those who passed the examination were registered.\ \ That first attempt perhaps could not have been as successful as it turned out to be without the collaboration with the **Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board** (**JAMB**). JAMB was able to convert all the test items to its standard objective format and worked with the Council to deliver the papers to all state capitals in the country and the Federal Capital Territory where the teachers wrote the examinations. At the end of the examinations, JAMB also applied its acclaimed sophisticated technology to mark the papers and get the results released online within 24 hours. This was a feat that made the Council proud and boldly spelt, "**YES WE CAN!"** The success of that first attempt at Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination proved that the Council and indeed the nation can attain any height once there is passion, determination, patriotism, expertise and total commitment to national goals and objectives.\ \ The success of the 2008 "experiment" paved the way to the development of the Teachers Professional Qualification Examination Benchmark, which has now become a reality. The making of the Benchmark attracted the collaboration and input of several organizations and scholars worth acknowledging. Prominent among the organisations is the **Educational Testing Service (ETS)** of the United States of America -- the organization responsible for the conduct of the professional qualifying examination of teachers in America. The ETS interacted with TRCN at various levels including meeting with TRCN Chief Executive and Director of Professional Operations in Austin, Texas and training some TRCN staff at its Headquarters (USA) in the latest art of professional qualifying examination. The moral and technical support received from the ETS was therefore quite fundamental and helped to ensure that the Benchmark meets international expectations. Similarly, the professional regulatory agencies in Nigeria assisted in no small measure in motivating and shaping the thought and modus operandi of the Benchmark. This support came principally from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Council for Legal Education, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. At a point, educational consultants led by the erudite scholar, Professor Daniel Ogum, helped to accelerate the development of the Benchmark. Later, the Benchmark was validated by a Core Group of scholars, technical experts, international development partners and teachers whose names and addresses are contained in this publication. Professor Grace Offorma, former Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka was the Chair Person of the Committee that managed the 2008 Professional Qualifying Examination and again she chaired the validation of the current Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination Benchmark. Therefore, our immense gratitude goes to Professor Grace Offorma and her various teams that helped to make the Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination a reality in Nigeria. Finally, and above all, the Council is grateful to the National Council on Education, which at several times brainstormed on the issue of professional qualifying examination for teachers and strongly endorsed its commencement. Also to the general stakeholders who spoke out in different forums calling for the examination, TRCN and the teaching profession owe them a great deal of gratitude.**"** **3.4.2 THE CONCEPT OF PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION (PQE)\ \ **According to Wikipedia, "Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply certification or qualification, is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional\_certification).\ \ The education of a professional is a life-long process which begins with pre-service training, through induction into the profession and thereafter, ongoing professional or in-service training. This life-long process of professional education is divided into stages marked by evaluation which are intended to determine the capacity of the individual to proceed to the next higher level of responsibility. In other words, evaluation is an integral and continuous part of any authentic process of scientific or professional undertaking. Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) is one of such evaluation strategies that come at the completion of pre-service education of an intending professional which is aimed at determining the level of competences of the individual. The evaluation is a kind of "checks and balances" organized by a statutory body of competent jurisdiction to independently ascertain to what extent the individual has accomplished laid down benchmarks for admission into the profession. The professional regulatory agencies therefore have a responsibility to ascertain the quality of candidates who approach them to be registered and licensed for independent practice. This does not cast doubt on the capacity of the educational institutions to discharge their responsibilities of training and educating the candidates but is simply a best practice that adds value to the sorting and screening of candidates for the world of work.\ \ In Nigeria, there was so much public debate about the merits and demerits of the Post University Tertiary Matriculation Examination (Post-UTME) tests conducted by universities to further screen candidates who had already passed the UTME. But today, the debate has waned and the Post-UTME tests have gradually become a convention among Nigerian universities. Therefore, the need to test and re-test an intending professional is far more a necessity than admitting an individual into tertiary education because once registered and licensed to practice, the individual will enjoy great freedom to handle functions that are critical for the safety, well-being and survival of the people and society. Such functions that pertain to education, health, law, environment, etc are the foundations of society and entrusting their management in the hands of the incompetent persons may be detrimental to humanity and society. Indeed, the need for very competent teachers to manage teaching and learning is of paramount importance for any given society. This is why it is often said that "if a medical doctor makes a mistake, an individual may die; if a lawyer makes a mistake, an individual may lose freedom; if an engineer makes a mistake, a bridge may collapse; but if a teacher makes a mistake, generations of humanity may sure grave consequences." In the light of this fact, the PQE is an assessment tool to determine. **3.4.3 TRCN AND THE RATIONALE FOR THE TEACHERS' PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION IN NIGERIA** There are many compelling bases for the introduction and institutionalization of teacher PQE in Nigeria by the TRCN. Some of these bases are: - - the need for quality assurance; - the need to place teaching on the same pedestal with other professions; - the need to conform to international best practices and international teaching council's regulations and frameworks - the ability of the PQE to point out gaps in teacher education and therefore serve as needs assessment that reveals areas for further training and retraining of teachers. **The need for Quality Assurance** TRCN enabling law, just as the laws of other professional regulatory agencies in Nigeria, gives it power to regulate and control the teaching profession in Nigeria in all its aspects and ramifications. This regulation covers teaching at all levels of the education system in Nigeria from early childhood education to the university level; it also covers teaching in both the public and private educational sectors; it covers teacher education as well as teacher practice; it covers professional ethics as well and on-going professional development; etc. Specifically, TRCN Act CAP T3 of 2004 gives TRCN the following responsibilities: *(i) Determining who are teachers for the purpose of this Act.* *\ (ii) Determining what standards of knowledge and skills are to be attained by persons seeking to become registered as teachers under this Act and raising those standards from time to time as circumstances may permit.* *\ (iii)Securing, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the establishment and maintenance of a register of teachers and the publication from time to time of the lists of those persons.* *(iv) Regulating and controlling the teaching profession in all its aspects and ramifications.* *\ (v) Classifying from time to time members of the teaching profession according to their level of training and qualification.* *\ (vi) Performing through the Council established under this Act the functions conferred on it by this Act.* TRCN Act (2004) in sections 7 and 8 further empowers TRCN to approve institutions intended for the training of teachers in Nigeria. Some of those provisions are captured below: *7(1) The Council may approve an institution for the purposes of this Act and may for those purposes approve ---* *\ (2) The Council may, if it thinks fit, withdraw any approval given under this section in respect of any course, qualification or institution, but before withdrawing such an approval the Council shall ---* *\ (3) Any period during which the approval of the Council under this section for a course, qualification or institution is withdrawn, the course, qualification or institution shall not be treated as approved under this section; but the withdrawal of such an approval shall not prejudice the registration or eligibility for registration of any person who by virtue of the approval was registered or eligible for registration immediately before the approval was withdrawn.* *\ (4) The giving or withdrawal of an approval under this section shall have effect from such date, either before or after the execution of the instrument signifying the giving or withdrawal of the approval, as the Council may specify in that instrument; and the Council shall ---\ \ (a) publish as soon as possible a copy of every such instrument in the newspaper; and* *\ (b) not later than seven days before its publication as aforesaid, send a copy of the instrument to the Minister.* *\ 8. --- (1) It shall be the duty of members of the Council to keep themselves informed of the nature of ---* *\ (2) it shall be the duty of a person appointed under subsection (1) of this section to report to the Council on ----* *\ (3) On receiving a report made in pursuance of this section, the Council may, if it thinks fit, and shall if so required by the registered members send a copy of the report to the person appearing to the Council to be in charge of the institution or responsible for the examinations to which the report relates requesting that person to make observations on the report to the Council within such period as may be specified in the request, not being less than one month beginning with the date of the request.\ * TRCN Act provides that it is a criminal offence to practice teaching in Nigeria without registration. The Act also prescribes a punishment of two year jail term or fine or both as the court of law may decide and the punishment is for both the unqualified person practicing teaching as well as his or her employer as stated in the law. Therefore, the exercise of these powers given to TRCN by law to regulate teaching in Nigeria implies a power to assure the quality of education (both the theoretical and practical dimensions) given to teachers in Nigeria.\ \ The PQE is part of this quality assurance responsibility. Quality is generally defined as "fitness for purpose", and quality assurance is a process to determine whether something fits a desire or purpose (National Assessment and Accreditation Council of India and Commonwealth of Learning, 2007). In this case, quality assurance for the teaching profession is a process to determine whether the teacher education undergone by candidates fits the purpose anticipated by the goals and philosophies of teacher education in Nigeria and TRCN by law has a great role to play in the process. The PQE as part of that process will help TRCN and stakeholders to re-assure themselves that certificates carried by individuals are truly earned and that the candidates possess the knowledge and skills portrayed by such certificates. It will also help to discover quacks, fraudsters, and those who passed their examinations at teacher training institutions through examination malpractice. In the process, public confidence about teachers and the teaching profession will be strengthened and quality of education can also rise. **Need to place teaching on the same pedestal with other professions** The 85th Conference of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) held in Austin, Texas, June 9-12, 2013. The NASDTEC draws its members from all 50 States of the USA and some provinces in Canada and the State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification are the actual government agencies in each state that are responsible for the registration and licensing of teachers in the USA. It was therefore an important conference to any teaching regulatory authority in the world and TRCN top leadership attended the conference and was privileged to have intimate discussions with the very agencies responsible for teacher testing and licensure. One of the key speakers at the conference was Ronald Thorpe, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), a very important national board that issues teachers with professional licensure that enables them to teach anywhere in the USA after passing a most competitive set of national tests and meeting other national requirements. The paper presented by Thorpe (2013) titled, "Setting a Future Course Toward Excellence" deserves a fairly extensive review here to see why teaching must live up to the standards of the other professions and why PQE in particular is a worthwhile exercise. According to Thorpe, the NBPTS was created in 1987 and *It was based on the model that the other professions have long used and on top of which they have built their success. **But there is one serious difference. In all of those professions, Board Certification is the norm, not the exception.** It is what every member of the profession aspires to, and every step of the career path from day one in a preparation program onward is designed to prepare practitioners to achieve Board Certification.* *In medicine, for example, every course that a medical student takes is designed not just for the M.D. degree or the license to practice that is issued by the state -- it is designed for success on the medical specialty Board that doctors sit for at the earliest possible moment following residency. The result of this coherent, well designed path is that 90% of our nation's doctors are Board certified, and 98% of physicians who sit for the Boards pass. This is in stark contrast to teaching where fewer than 3% of teachers are Board certified.* *And the medical profession doesn't allow anyone to come in through the side door or back door. If, heaven forbid, you had to send your child into surgery tomorrow, and your surgeon said to you: ―I'm not Board certified, but trust me, I'm just as good, you wouldn't feel very confident. And by the way, the hospital wouldn't even allow such a person to practice. And yet that is what we do every day in education.* The sensitive point that Thorpe is making in this passage as in his entire paper is that teaching ought and should be placed on equal footing with all other noble professions and each and every of those standards and best practices that have defined and shaped these other professions ought to be tenaciously implemented for the teaching profession. Incidentally, while teachers in the USA have done so well in aspiring to and acquiring state licensure through PRAXIS, they seem to have bothered less to go a step further to strive to earn the certification of the NBPTS. However, the NBPTS is not relenting but tirelessly sensitizing teachers and expecting an improvement in terms of the number aspiring to become nationally and board certified. He further praised medical practice as being closest to ideal professional practice and emphasizes the need for teaching to catch up and even exceed medical practice in terms of professional standards and practices. Thus he stated: *Medicine isn't perfect. No profession is. But I think we would all admit that medicine is the epitome of professions or very close to it. **Let's take a quick look back at the history of medicine,** because it tells us something important. Paul Starr wrote a book called ―The Social Transformation of American Medicine. I'd like to share a few sentences from what is an amazing story.* *―**In the 19th century, the medical profession was generally weak, divided, insecure in its status and its income, unable to control entry into practice or to raise the standards of medical education. In the twentieth century, not only did physicians become a powerful, prestigious, and wealthy profession, but they succeeded in shaping the basic organisation and financial structure of American medicine."*** ***\ You see, just 100 years ago medicine was a mess.** There were as many as 400 medical schools in this country (USA) in the late 19th century, most of which were proprietary. You could go down the street to the Ron Thorpe School of Medicine, plop down your money and by taking as little as two 16 week courses, call yourself a doctor. It took decades for medicine to make the pivot and become what it is today. **And it was done -- Professor Starr recounts -- by physicians.*** The above inspirational argument by the Chief Executive Officer of the NBPTS simply instructs the teaching profession to be competitive and to attain heights that are already acclaimed for other professions. This therefore is additional compelling reason to make the PQE, which is part of the hallmark of the other professions, a requirement for the teaching profession. **Need to conform to international best practices and international teaching councils' regulations and frameworks** Teaching has become globally regulated and the teaching councils in the various countries and continents have established bodies to collaborate to raise standards of the profession across the globe. The global body is the International Forum of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (IFTRA) with its headquarters at the General Teaching Council for Wales, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. There is also the Africa regional branch of IFTRA called Africa Forum of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA) which has TRCN as its headquarters. The teaching regulatory authorities and statutory agencies responsible for the regulation and control of the teaching profession in the various countries. For instance, TRCN is for Nigeria; in Kenya is the Education Service Commission which is a constitutional body dealing with not only employment of teachers but also regulation of the profession; in Uganda there is the Education Service Commission which functions like the one in Kenya; in South Africa, there is the South African Council for Educators; and even in countries without specific Teaching Councils, the national Ministry of Education represents the country in AFTRA. AFTRA equally had national teachers' unions and international development partners as members-in-observer status. AFTRA/IFTRA therefore are critical inter-governmental agencies that inter-face with teachers directly and impact heavily on the education system in the respective countries. Consequently, any country that ignores international benchmarks set by such serious international umbrellas does so at great risk to the international professional career and status of its citizens. These umbrellas are currently setting up international teacher mobility protocols, teacher qualification frameworks, teacher recognition criteria, global professional development benchmarks, ethical instruments, etc which will enable teachers from complying countries to be admitted to teach anywhere in the continent and in the world with the same terms and conditions of service as teachers in the host country. There is also a mandatory letter of credence or reference that teachers travelling outside their countries must obtain from the teaching regulatory authority of their home country for submission to the teaching regulatory authority of the host country. The report on this letter must show that the bearer is registered and complied with the extant provisions of the home country‟s teaching regulatory authority. Where this is not the case, the individual cannot be guaranteed acceptability in the new country. Conclusively, therefore, the PQE is part of the emerging global benchmark for satisfying international requirements and giving credibility to the teaching profession. **\ Ability of the PQE to point out gaps in teacher education and therefore serve as needs assessment that reveals areas for further training and retraining of teachers:** Teacher education is a continuous process and does not terminate with pre-service education. Therefore, the need for test and re-testing of teachers cannot be over-emphasized. It has the capability to point out gaps in education already undergone by individuals and thereby assist to determine the efficacy of existing teacher education and the future training needs of the teachers. In this respect, the assessment is not a punitive exercise for candidates but to ensure that there is appropriate data and informed opinion about teacher competences in the country. A case of "test-retest" of candidates was the re-examination of candidates seeking admission into Nigerian universities after they had sat for JAMB's UTME (Unified Tertiary Institutions Matriculation Examination). The re-testing by universities popularly called Post-UTME was at a time one of the most controversial issues in the Nigerian education system. However, the test has now become institutionalized and a "normal" practice. People wondered why universities could not totally rely on the UTME to admit candidates, but the universities argued that they required a parallel test for the candidates for quality assurance which includes determining the correlation between the scores of candidates in the UTME and Post-UTME administered by the universities. This correlation clearly showed candidates parading UTME scores that they did not merit and apart from the opportunity the university now has to deepen the screening of students before admission. This re-testing has largely succeeded leading to its wide application throughout Nigeria. The PQE may play similar role but goes far beyond that in its significance because it should be more rigorous and the preparation for the examination should be additional learning experience for beginning teachers. Indeed, since most candidates are very examination conscious, the desire to excel in the PQE will encourage them to expand their learning efforts and horizon and engender a great deal of self-development efforts. One other importance of re-testing is that the institutions that produce the teachers will be kept on their toes knowing that another independent test (the PQE) would be conducted to check the quality of training and initial examination given to the candidates.