The United Kingdom may have just made a profound statement about its perception of the quality of Nigeria and Ghana-trained teachers.
This it did by making the ineligible to apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England under the United Kingdom’s overseas-trained teacher application route.
This came from an updated policy that took September 9, while asserting that countries included in the scheme must meet specific requirements.
According to the UK Department for Education said the latest move is to ensure that applicants’ qualifications, professional standing and teaching experience can be properly verified.
Nigeria and Ghana-trained teachers no longer qualify to utilise that route to obtain QTS, a status recognised by many schools in England.
The UK Department for Education said countries included in the scheme must meet specific requirements to ensure that applicants’ qualifications, professional standing and teaching experience can be properly verified.
One of the requirements is that a country must have a national regulator capable of confirming a teacher’s professional status and providing authenticated references.
According to the department, Nigeria and Ghana did not meet the reference-verification requirement.
“Our data shows that more than 70% of applications from teachers in Ghana and Nigeria include work history references that use public email addresses, such as Gmail or Hotmail, rather than a school’s official email domain. This means assessors spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications,” the department said.
The UK department said about 90 percent of applications are assessed within 12 months.
India was also removed from the eligible list because it does not have a national regulator capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing.
READ ALSO: United Kingdom Fines GTBank Heavily Over Money Laundering
READ ALSO: List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations Blacklisted By US, United Kingdom
South Africa is now the only African country remaining on the list of countries whose teachers can use the QTS application route.
The department said the verification process was necessary to ensure that information provided by applicants was genuine and that teachers awarded QTS possessed the required skills and experience to teach in England.
To apply for QTS, overseas-trained teachers must have a valid passport, an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree and professional recognition as a teacher in the country where they trained.
Vanguard
Cami Ezenwa is a Writer, Editor, Publicist, Biographer and Journalism Trainer
He has worked with the Daily Times, Daily Independent, Financial Standard and Business Television to mention some.
His ongoing Corporate Communications Master Class training series equips learners with credible hands-on skills for effective Media Relations, Public Communications & Corporate Affairs amongst others.
He can be contacted via 09165809519 or 08180335778.