U.K. Blocks Nigerian and Ghanaian Teachers From Applying for QTS

(U.K. Office. Photo by Vanguard News)

Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana can no longer apply for Qualified Teacher Status in England.

The change took effect on September 9.

The U.K. Department for Education says countries in the scheme must meet specific requirements.

One key requirement is having a national regulator that can verify a teacher's professional status and provide authenticated references.

Nigeria and Ghana don't meet this requirement.

The U.K. says more than 70 percent of applications from teachers in these countries use personal email addresses like Gmail or Hotmail instead of official school emails.

This makes it harder to verify the information.

India was also removed from the list because it doesn't have a national regulator.

South Africa is now the only African country whose teachers can use the QTS application route.

To apply for QTS, overseas-trained teachers need a valid passport, an undergraduate degree equivalent to a U.K. bachelor's degree and professional recognition as a teacher.

They must have completed mandatory induction requirements for full teacher registration in their country.

Teachers must show they can teach children aged five to sixteen and have at least nine months of teaching experience after qualifying.

They need employment references using email addresses linked to the school's official domain.

Some countries require additional qualifications like teaching pupils aged eleven to sixteen or specializing in subjects like mathematics, science, languages or other fields.

Schools in England can consider alternative routes to hire teachers, so those no longer eligible for QTS can explore other options.