Teachers Hand BookPREFACE Teaching is one of the oldest professions in the world. Indeed it is the mother of all professions because practitioners in other professions are taught by the teacher. Teaching therefore occupies a critical and fundamental position in the development of any nation. It acts as a catalyst of change for the transformation of society to the desired ends.
For any vocation to be legally recognized as a profession, its practices must be regulated and controlled by a body. Professions such as law, medicine, engineering, pharmacy, are respectively, regulated and controlled by the Council of Legal Education (COLE), Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN). Consequently, the establishment of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria is to give the teaching profession legal recognition and empower it to guarantee qualitative practice. For long, the teaching profession has been treated with content and ignominy. A vicious cycle operated which caused the drain of the best brains in the profession while steadily opening the door to all manner of persons masquerading as teachers. Little attention was paid to critical issues such as entry standards into the profession, the scope and quality of teacher education programmes, continuous professional development of practicing teachers, professional conduct, the welfare and dignity of teachers, etc. Of course, the consequences of these have been grave for the nation. Among them are fall in educational standards, upsurge in vices among students, incompetent manpower in the various sectors of the nation, and loss of international respect and recognition for our graduates. This Handbook is therefore intended to constantly remind registering teachers in particular and the public in general that the nation is at the dawn of a new era where teaching has ceased to be an all-comers affair. For this reason, the book has highlighted the key mandates of the Council, its vision and mission, registration procedures, benefits to be derived by registered professional teachers and lots of other information that can put the teacher on the right path in the new dispensation. As such, the book is highly recommended for all teachers and managers of the education system, the media, libraries, the international community, and the public at large.
M. CIWAR, OON, MNAE .
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