From Fred Itua, Abuja

Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has initiated moves to end quackery and improve the welfare of teachers in the country.

The Council said this would be achieved through a teachers’ TV show that would take place in August. According to the Council, the teachers selected would win various things, including cash gifts, scholarships and other consolation prizes.

Themed “The Millionaire Teachers”, the project is a collaboration between the TRCN, the Federal Ministry of Education and Teachers Naija.

Speaking during the flag-off event, the registrar of TRCN, Professor Josiah Ajiboye, said the project which kicked off in 2019, is a new entry into the history of teachers’ development in Nigeria.

The registrar of TRCN said the project would improve the welfare of Nigerian teachers. Ajiboye who described the first edition of the reality TV show as a success said such a feat was a huge surprise despite its uniqueness and being the first of its kind in Nigeria.

Ajiboye said: ‘And coming in as a new entry, it was a big surprise to some of us, you know we have been witnessing so many reality TV shows but this is a unique one because it focuses on teacher and teacher development in Nigeria.

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‘So, when this program was introduced in 2019, we were excited and the excitement was actually high by the outcome of that particular project two years ago.’

Commending all the implementing partners including the media, Ajiboye said the project is at zero cost to TRCN. He said the initiative is helping the council and the Nigerian people to showcase the status of teachers in the country and to make sure the profession is projected to citizens and the world in general in good light.

‘Now that 2021 has come, we are going to have a revived and well-rejuvenated Teachers Naija Reality TV Show for 2021. We had a meeting with the honourable minister of education yesterday – which was an eye-opener too. And the minister of state for education was excited and he promised to support this particular project,’ Ajioboye said.

He also said that projects such as this will provide the opportunity to reward teachers for what they do to improve the life of every Nigerian.

In his address, a former dean, Faculty of Education at the University of Abuja, Professor Ashom Maisamari, said the reality TV show is very important for the development of teaching in Nigeria as a profession.

He also described the project as a national development project that would go a long way to challenge Nigerian teachers on professionalism and in turn provide sustainable welfare programs for the teachers.

Maisamari said: ‘We appreciate TETFUND for infrastructural development but we most importantly appreciate them more for human capital development across Nigeria.’