20 PhD holders join 17,000 teachers for professional exam

By Okeoghene Akubuike

No fewer than 20 Ph.D holders would join 17,000 other teachers to write the computer based Teachers Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) to be conducted nationwide by Teachers Registration Council (TRC).

Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, Registrar of the council, said on Thursday at an interactive session with newsmen in Abuja that the examination was scheduled to hold on Oct. 20.

Ajiboye said the PQE was set based on the different qualification of teachers which include NCE, Degree, Masters and PhD holders.

“We have our plans running and the committee in charge of PQE is already set and working to ensure we deliver another successful professional qualifying examination.

“About 17,000 plus would be teachers have registered for the October diet of the PQE.

“As of today we have not less than 20 PhD holders who will also sit for the examination,’’ he said.

He added that any state that could not muster up to a minimum of 100 applicants would not join in writing the October diet of the examination.

Ajiboye explained that candidates from such states would either have to go to a nearby state to sit for the examination or wait till they could meet the benchmark and write in the subsequent year.

According to him, “we had to increase the minimum benchmark from 50 to 100 candidates per state because it was no longer economically viable to work with 50 candidates.

“Any states that cannot muster up to 100 candidates will join with other states or they wait till the next available opportunity when they are able to meet the benchmark,’’ Ajiboye said.

He said states including Taraba, Bauchi, Kaduna, Imo and Rivers had the largest number of candidates registered to sit for the examination. (NAN)