The United Kingdom government has listed Nigeria and some other African countries whose citizens can now apply for qualified teacher status through the Teaching Regulation Agency beginning from February 2023.
The other countries include Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Singapore, and Ukraine.
This was contained in a statement published early December on the UK government’s website, by its Department for Education, announcing the application for interested non-UK nationals.
According to the recent update, those applying for teaching jobs from these oversea countries will require a work visa or other immigration status to be permitted to work in the UK. They will as well need a skilled worker visa from their employer.
The publication says the applicants do not necessarily need to have initial teaching qualifications as the country will organise training programme for the potential migrants, but they must have "a minimum of two years teaching experience, a first (bachelor’s) degree from a UK or non-UK university."
The statement add that "over time, this route will be opened to qualified teachers from every country outside the UK."
Here is what the statement says:
“From February 1, 2023, teachers who qualified in the following nine countries (listed above) will also be able to apply to the QTR through the TRA.
“This change is part of the launch of a new service.
“Teachers from all eligible countries will have to show they meet a consistent set of criteria for the award of the QTS. Over time, this route will be opened to qualified teachers from every country outside the UK.
“To apply for assessment – only QTS, you do not need a formal teacher training qualification.
“However, you must have: a minimum of two years teaching experience, a first (bachelor’s) degree from a UK or non-UK university, an English language qualification which is the same standard as a grade four General Certificate of Secondary Education, a maths qualification which is the same standard as a grade four GCSE to teach children aged three to 11 in primary school, a physics, chemistry or biology (science) qualification which is the same standard as a grade four GCSE.”