By Sixtus Uket (Calabar)
The Executive Chairman, Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Senator Stephen Odey, has charged newly inducted teachers to continue to acquire knowledge to enable them excel in their profession.
Senator Odey gave the charge while presenting the Induction Lecture on: “Professional Knowledge: Essential vitamin to unlock quality education,” at the 4th Induction of Professional Teachers by the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigerian (TRCN), held at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Cross River State capital.
The CR-SUBEB Executive Chairman explained that professional teachers have to keep their profession alive by embarking on training and retaining on regular basis to be in concert with new trends and practices in the profession.
He said the Governor Ben Ayade-led administration is fully conscious of the essence of retraining teachers to enhance quality education in the state, hence the building of the Teachers Continuous Training Institute (TCTI) in Biase Local Government Area, with the mandate of training teachers on a continuous basis to improve teachers quality in all ramifications.
Senator Odey also called on TRCN to step up their regulatory role by finding new ways to effectively and efficiently regulate the practice of the teaching profession in the country to rid the education system of quackery,
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Florence Obi, expressed delight on the induction of more than 80 teachers trained by the Institute of Education of the University of Calabar.
Prof. Obi, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, Prof. Angela Oyo-Ita, charged the inductees to hold their profession in high esteem as other professions would not exist without them
Also addressing the inductees, the Registrar of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Prof. Josiah Olusegun Ajiboye, who was represented by Dr Bimbo Okunola, urged them to embrace new technologies to enable them navigate the digital era and enhance teaching and learning.
The Director of the Institute of Education, UNICAL, Prof. Paul Itari had said “the induction is one of the most important academic rituals that initiates graduates into their profession.”
Prof. Itari explained that quality education could only be a reality if teachers are trained professionally.
