By Uji A. Iliyasu, Abuja
The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has backed the Federal Government’s Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP), a programme designed to provide more than 250,000 serving but unqualified teachers with a pathway to professional certification and licensing.
The Head of Media, TRCN, Esther Chiwar, said the initiative would equip untrained teachers in public and private schools with the requisite skills and professional qualifications to teach effectively.
Under the programme, candidates who successfully complete the prescribed ATPP examination will be eligible to sit for the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) organised by TRCN before being registered as qualified teachers and issued professional licences.
The ATPP, which will be implemented in cohorts, is being led by the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, and coordinated by a Technical Working Group chaired by Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad.
TRCN and the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, will drive the implementation, with support from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).
The initiative seeks to address the long-standing challenge of teachers serving in classrooms without recognised professional teaching qualifications or licences.
Many of the affected teachers possess degrees in subject areas but did not undergo recognised teacher-training programmes, limiting their opportunities for professional progression and exposing them to possible regulatory sanctions.
The ATPP is designed to bridge the qualification gap while allowing serving teachers to remain in their schools throughout the training period.
The six-month programme provides two pathways: the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) for graduates of non-education disciplines, and the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) for candidates from the National Diploma cadre.
The training will comprise four months of blended learning, including self-paced online modules, virtual facilitation and assessments, followed by two months of supervised teaching practice in the participants’ respective schools.
Upon successful completion, participants will sit for the TRCN Professional Qualifying Examination, with certification and licensing costs covered by the programme fee.
The Federal Government expects the ATPP to engage about 250,000 teachers nationwide, with participants mapped across federal, state and local government levels.