No fewer than 891 teachers in Kogi on Saturday sat for professional qualification examination (PQE), conducted by the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).

The professional qualification examination would qualify the teachers to be certified as professional teachers.

The Kogi State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Rosemary Osikoya, after monitoring the conduct of the examination at YABMA International Science Academy, Lokoja, told journalists that the turnout by teachers was impressive.

According to her, the State Government had done public sensitisation on the need for Kogi teachers to meet the minimum standard that had been set by the TRCN.

She added that the turnout today showed that everybody was aware of the December 2019 deadline set by the TRCN for teachers to be professionally qualified.

She noted that the number of teachers who registered between 2018 and 2019 for the exam had increased tremendously, assuring that the State Government would continue to give the necessary support to teachers.

While commending the TRCN for its efforts, Osikoya stressed the need for the council to adequately plan for the conduct of the exam, saying there should be orientation seminar for candidate before such exam.

According to her, there is obvious computer illiteracy among the teachers; there is need for teachers to take responsibility for their personal development.

”Capacity development should not be left for the government alone, but due to laziness and laxity most of them do not want to learn, and that is part of the challenges we have today.

”As teachers, we all have the responsibility to be computer literate, it is disappointing to have teachers in the 21st century who cannot use computer, and who had not taken any kind of opportunity to train themselves.

”The outcome of education is for us to raise people, who can think, people who can reason and curious enough to find solutions; teachers should model what they teach,” she restated.

She, however, urged schools’ managers and proprietors to make facility available in their schools to assist their teachers in computer literacy.

Earlier, Mrs Zainab Lawal, the State Coordinator of TRCN, said a total of 981 were teachers writing the TRCN PQE in Kogi.

Lawal noted that the candidates arrived the venue very late, saying the major challenge they had was that most of the teachers don’t know how to use computer.

”Some of them are also not patient enough to carefully follow the instructions we have given to them.

”Though we have nationwide serve problem but but we are walking to rectify the issue as soon as possible. Everybody will write; they should only be patient,” the coordinator said

Lawal noted that a total of 1, 520 Kogi teachers also wrote the same professional examination in Oct. 11 and 12, 2019.

The commissioner and her team also monitored the Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) and Degree second semester exam, organised by the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) held at Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja.

Dr Hajara Dauda, the NTI Centre Coordinator,, commended the commissioner for taking out her time to come and monitor the exam, saying the gesture was a motivation for the institute.

  Education, Kogi