Does One Need a License to Practice as a Teacher?

[Etini]

I have seen many people practicing as teachers and I tend to ask if the teaching career is an open for all affair. It is common to see private schools employing any person they can afford to pay to teach in those schools, regardless of qualifications, licenses etc.

That has made me to wonder if there is any license required to practice as a teacher. If there is, which body is responsible for administering such licenses? And what are the requirements to earn such licenses?

It is damaging to the educational sector if anyone from anywhere just pops up to start teaching without the proper licenses.

 

[btaliat]

Teaching is a profession. And almost all professions have some bodies that are regulating them, teaching is not an exception. Teaching, as old as it is, has a body that will make sure that the members are protected and that their rights are guaranteed.

However for some people that don't have the requirement of being a teacher, each country has put in place some programmes to be done by the interested people in order for them to become a certified teachers that csn teach.

There may even be sanction on those that are teaching without passing through the right channel.

 

[moonchild]

Yes, because Teaching is a profession done by professionals, they need to have a license to be able to teach, most developed countries takes this seriously and one can get penalized by breaking the law, but if you live in developing or underdeveloped countries where law and order are not followed or even disregarded totally.

You'll hardly see any teacher with an active licence, I live in Nigeria and most teachers where I live see teaching as sort of a stepping stone to a better job, there's no passion or concern on what they teach students, they just want the pay and mostly teach students garbage.

 

[Abigael]

I my country Kenya, there is a body that licenses people in order to start teaching in public and private schools. It is known as a teachers service commission (TSC) and you need a TSC number after graduating in order to secure a job.

The teaching career is like other careers where you need to be competent in order to work. Just like a doctor gets a license to start treating, a teacher needs to show that they won't mislead the students. And this can only be achieved if there is a body that regulates this.

I guess the loophole is that most private schools don't get regulated by the TSC. But then they also need to be registered in order to do National examinations, so I guess the teachers get checked by the government too.