The registrar, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Josiah Ajiboye, has urged Nigerians to stop portraying the education section negatively on the global scene.

Speaking at a one-day retreat on the State of Education in Nigeria organised by the Education Correspondent Association of Nigeria (ECAN) in Abuja on Tuesday, Mr Ajiboye said Nigeria’s education system was one of the best globally.

“Nigeria’s education is among one of the best in the world today; if not, why are Nigerian professionals going outside the country?” he said.

He said despite the education sector’s challenges, the quality of graduates produced could compete favourably worldwide.

“You see thousands of Nigerians everywhere you go; Nigerian graduates are well sought.

“Even as of today, if you look at the quality of our graduates, they are people that can compete with other people all over the world. People will always tell you the standard is falling, but who is setting the standards?

“Even this year alone, I have signed letters of professional standing for over 260 Nigerians going to teach in Canada alone. As of this morning, we have a letter from the UK from the head of their teaching council.

“She sends a message for a pro-former letter of professional standing because they want to start taking Nigerian teachers massively.

“If anybody is telling you are not doing well, though we have our challenges, in all these situations, we still have the best graduates,” he said.

Mr Ajiboye called on the media to help the country to amplify the positive values of the sector so that foreigners would come in, explore and invest.

He emphasised the need to change the narrative by not dwelling on the negatives that could overwhelm the country.

The registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede, commended the association for projecting the country’s image, especially in the education sector.

Mr Oloyede, represented by a spokesperson for the board, Fabian Benjamin, called for a National Education Insurance Scheme to address the problem of access, especially in state universities.

“The country should be able to support the education scheme whereby a certain percentage can be paid by the federal government so subscribers can attend private institutions,” he said.

Meanwhile, the registrar, National Examination Council (NECO), Ibrahim Wushishi, who spoke on the global acceptability of the NECO certificate, said its certificate had international recognition through an educational assessment body.

“NECO is a strong member of the International Association for Educational Assessment, and we play a vital role in the global assessment of examination.

“So candidates that took their NECO examinations are being admitted into secondary and tertiary institutions in foreign countries like the U.S, Canada, Germany, India, China, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, and they write the council to authenticate the results from NECO.

“In fact, between January to August 2022, we received 490 requests from more than 50 countries across the world to confirm the authenticity of our results,” he said.

Mr Wushishi, however, advised Nigerians not to take the education sector for granted, saying that the sector should be projected in a good light to the world. 

(NAN)