TRCN stands for Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria. It is the body that effectively and efficiently regulate the teaching profession within Nigeria, founded upon robust teacher education and practice and where teacher quality, discipline, professionalism, reward and dignity match international standards.
The council works hard to assure excellence and professionalism among teachers at all levels of the nation’s education system, using effective registration, licensing, accreditation, monitoring and supervision of teacher education programmes, promoting continuing professional development and maintenance of discipline as paradigms for the overall renaissance of the teaching profession in Nigeria.
To promote excellence in education through effective registration and licensing of teachers; and to promote professionalism through accreditation, monitoring and supervision of teacher training programmes, mandatory continuing professional development and maintenance of discipline among teachers at all levels of the education system.
The Council was established by Decree (now Act) 31 of 1993 following several decades of agitation by professional teachers and other stakeholders for the establishment of a regulatory agency led to the enactment of the Act. The Act in section 1(1) charged the Council with the following responsibilities:
- Determining who are teachers for the purpose of this Act
- 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.
- 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.
- Regulating and controlling the teaching profession in all its aspects and ramifications.
- Classifying from time to time members of the teaching profession according to their level of training and qualification.
- Performing through the Council established under this Act the functions conferred on it by this Act.
In accordance with the TRCN legal provisions and conventions common to the professional regulatory agencies, the Council is systematically implementing the following programmes and activities:
- Registration and licensing of qualified teachers.
- Accreditation, monitoring and supervision of the courses and programmes of teacher training institutions in Nigeria to ensure that they meet national and international standards. The institutions include the Colleges of Education, Faculties and Institutes of Education in Nigerian universities, Schools of Education in the Polytechnics, and the National Teachers Institute.
- Organisation of Internship Schemes and induction programmes for fresh Education graduates to equip them with the necessary professional skills before licensing them for full professional practice.
- Conduct of professional examinations and interviews to determine teachers that are suitable for registration.
- Establishment of national minimum standards for and execution of Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) to guarantee that teachers keep abreast of developments in the theory and practice of the profession.
- Organisation of Annual Conference of Registered Teachers (which is the first of its kind in Nigeria) intended to unite all teachers irrespective of social class or the level of education system to which they belong.
- Publication of a register of qualified and licensed teachers in Nigeria in hard copies and available through the World Wide Web.
- Enforcement of professional ethics among teachers using the Teachers Investigating Panel (TIP) and the Teachers Tribunal.
- Prosecution in the law court of unqualified persons performing the job of teachers in contravention of the TRCN Act section 17(2).
- Acting as the voice of the voiceless teachers and continuously initiating/driving public policies and practices that could reposition the teaching profession in Nigeria as first among equals.
TRCN Zonal Offices
Although TRCN has offices in the 36 states in Nigeria including FCT, yet it has zonal offices also. It has 2 offices in each geopolitical zone making it a total of 12 zonal offices. The zones and states under them include:
- Minna – Niger, Kwara and Kogi States
- Kaduna – Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa States
- Sokoto – Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States
- Maiduguri – Borno, Bauchi and Yobe States
- Yola – Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe States
- Jos – Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States
- Enugu – Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi States
- Owerri – Imo and Abia States
- Uyo – Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers State
- Benin – Edo, Delta and Bayelsa States
- Akure – Ondo, Ekiti and Osun States
- Lagos – Oyo, Ogun and Lagos States.
Qualification for Registration
To be registered as a professional teacher, a person must possess a teaching qualification not lower in standards than the NIGERIA CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION (NCE). This is the minimum standard stipulated by the National Policy on Education. The other acceptable qualifications are degrees in Education (B. Sc Ed; B. Ed; M. Ed; PhD). Those with degrees or Diplomas in non-Education fields must possess Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) or Professional Diploma in Education (PDE). The Technical Teachers Certificate (TTC) acquired not later than 2008 is also valid but from 2009 the PDE will replace the TTC totally.
Institutions Offering Approved Professional
The institutions currently are:
- National Teachers Institute (NTI)
- Colleges and Universities of Education
- Institutes of Education in the universities
- Faculties of Education in the universities
- Schools or Departments of Education in the polytechnics
- Any other institution that may be approved by government from time to time
- Foreign countries with recognized educational training.
TRCN on the Global Scene
TRCN has strongly moved onto the global scene the way most of the older agencies have never done or even considered necessary to do. Today the agency is working effectively and exchanging visits with dozens of Teaching Councils across the continents, from the United States of America to Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, etc.
Nigerians travel abroad or have friends and relations teaching abroad already have ideas about how this TRCN foreign relations have turned around the image, dignity and opportunity of any Nigerian now teaching or wishing to teach abroad. Just as an instance, it previously took average of two whole years to license a Nigerian to teach in most advanced countries. These two years were spent by the foreign Teaching Councils investigating the veracity of the claims in the curriculum vitae of the Nigerian, his/her educational qualifications, character, etc.
But today, it takes only TRCN certificate of registration and a letter from TRCN attesting to the good professional standing of the Nigerian for the Nigerian to get licensed and to start teaching abroad with much better respect and rest of mind! The process of registration for a Nigerian abroad is now completed in a matter of weeks! There had been instances Nigerians already abroad had to return to Nigeria to finalise their registration with TRCN before returning to their foreign countries so as to enjoy the bliss of seamless professional recognition.
Payment of Registration Fees and Dues
Payment of cash in any TRCN office is strictly prohibited, hence it must be made through the bank. Upon payment of annual due, a registered teacher shall be issued with a teaching license for the current year only. All teachers licenses in Nigeria have uniform duration, that is, January 1 to December of the year concerned. Therefore paying late in any year does not attract any advantage to the defaulter. A registered teacher MUST carry valid teaching license to remain on the job and to avoid other sanctions. At the point of registration, the council demands that the applicants make payment for Registration, Examination and Induction together. The amount changes and as such it may not be fully accurate to state a price here.
Note importantly that any applicant who writes the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) and fails will make fresh payment for only the Examination. You would not need to make payment for Induction and Registration again.
Professional Qualifying Examination
The Professional Qualifying Examination was introduced in October 2, 2008 and has become compulsory for teachers applying to register with TRCN. The Registrar of TRCN, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye said that the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) will deploy the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB’s) Computer Based Centres (CBT) for its Professional Qualifying Examinations (PQE) and training programmes. This announcement was evidenced in the Teacher’s Registration Council Examination written in Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education on March 9th, 2024. The examination was fully computer based which had 60 questions to be answered within 60 minutes.
The Examination is basically divided into two main categories; Category C was for the undergraduate and PDE students while Category D was for the MSc and PhD students.
Benefits of TRCN
- Only those that are appropriately trained and inducted perform the job,
- The rules of the game exist and are obeyed by all,
- Clients get value for their money and efforts,
- Public interest is protected,
- Priority is given to nation-building, and
- Professional growth
- Job security
- Teacher Salary Structure (TSS) and related packages
- Ethical rejuvenation in the profession
- Higher status of teachers in Nigeria
- Fulfillment of legal professional requirements
- Halt in brain drain in the teaching profession
- Rise in Educational standard
- International recognition
- Higher status and identity
- Tougher standards of entry into the Profession
- Promotion of Continuous Professional Development of teachers.
- Provision of authentic data of teachers in Nigeria.
How Relevant is the TRCN Certificate?
Certification is a major yardstick used to draw a line between the professionally trained personnel and those not trained. Certification legally confers on a practitioner all the rights, privileges and obligations expected of a professional as contained in the enabling laws and conventions. In recent time, the TRCN certificate is needed by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) before you can successfully register a school.
How to Check Your Result after Examination
When the council releases the result of an examination, there are basically three ways in which the result could be checked.
- You can contact the TRCN desk officer directly
- You can go to the TRCN office in the Institution on a working day.
- You can also check it at the comfort of your house via the TRCN Portal
How to Contact TRCN
- Address: 12 Oda Street, Off Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja, Nigeria.
- Phone: +2349054468360
- E-mail: info@trcn.gov.ng
- Website: https://trcn.gov.ng/
- Email for Request for Letter of Professional Standing to: Lops@trcn.gov.ng
