Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) PDF

**0101-4\ ** **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 t...

**0101-4\ ** **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.