By David Olalekan.
The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, has warned the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to desist from posting non-education graduates to the classroom during the mandatory one-year scheme.
The TRCN Registrar/Chief Executive, Prof. Segun Ajiboye, made the disclosure yesterday while addressing newsmen in Ibadan.
According to Prof. Ajiboye, the council had written the Director- General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Shuaibu, urging him to rescind posting graduates without Education degrees to teach in schools.
He said: “Most of those posted to teach in the mandatory one-year scheme do not have qualification to teach. Education system gets bastardised when unqualified persons without requisite professional skills are deployed to teach.
“We have written a letter to the NYSC Director-General requesting that only those who read Education should be posted to schools during their service year.
“This will ensure that only round pegs are deployed to round holes. Why are doctors not posted to teach? Why are education graduates not deployed to hospitals to operate the sick?
“If you cannot allow a teacher to treat you in the hospital, why should you allow a fake teacher to teach your children and destroy their future?
“We should not debase the teaching profession. State governors must also ensure that they train and re-train those in their schools. Human capital development must be taken seriously to transform our education system.”
The TRCN leader also called on every qualified teacher in the country to be registered, licensed and professionally certified and by the council.