Teachers ask FG to reverse decision to halt budgetary funding for TRCN

The Nigeria Union of Teachers has called on the federal government to reverse its decision to stop funding the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).

In mid-2023, the federal government said budgetary allocations would no longer be made for professional bodies and councils beginning from January 2024.

The budget office had asked the affected professional bodies to adjust early so that they could continue to run after federal funding ceases.

The TRCN is among the bodies affected as the country struggles to cut back on the cost of governance.

Audu Amba, the NUT president, said the union suddenly “woke up” to a federal decision to cease funding for the TRCN.

On Thursday, Amba spoke at the public presentation of professional standards for school leadership in Abuja.

He said the decision to stop funding the council is “inimical” as the TRCN is critical to developing the teaching profession in Nigeria.

“TRCN is the regulatory body that professionalises everybody that teaches in primary, secondary, and universities,” he said.

“I have never seen everywhere in the world that a regulatory body that is supposed to regulate the teaching profession is not funded. Do we mean business when doing this?

“Are we saying that teachers are inconsequential? We will not allow it to go as leaders of teachers.

“We will agitate and make sure the government funds TRCN because we have gone a long way as the leading country in Africa, so we can’t be seen retracting back.”

The TRCN is an agency under the education ministry responsible for the professionalisation and regulation of teaching in Nigeria.

Its primary functions include the registration, licensing, and accreditation of teachers to ensure they meet the required standards of practice.

The TRCN also sets benchmarks for teacher education programmes, conducts professional examinations, and enforces ethical standards within the teaching profession.