A Head
Teacher with the Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, on
Grade Level 13 has been demoted to the post of a gateman on Grade Level 04,
while 758 others were sent to lower grade levels for using fake certificates to
gain employment into the service.
Dr. Stephen
Odey, Chairman of SUBEB, told Vanguard in Calabar that over 758 teachers with
fake certificates and 700 ghost teachers were uncovered during screening across
the state.
He said: “We
got a lot of petitions from stakeholders intimating us about the presence of
teachers in the system who are using fake certificates and we had to embark on
a screening of the teachers across the state and what we saw was marvellous.”
Dr. Odey
said the fake certificates have been confiscated from their owners. He added
that although no punitive measures, apart from demotions and suspensions, would
be applied on the culprits, measures have been put in place to ensure that
recruitment into the state teaching service is devoid of malpractices and fake
certificate syndrome as in the past.
“If we
sacked all the teachers with fake certificates, the crime rate in the state
will increase and also the governor of the state believes that there should be
food on the table of everyone in the state.
“So we had
to mete out justice with mercy by only demoting them, which is quite
traumatising.”
He revealed
that those with genuine certificates are being promoted, while some who were
employed as security men and care-givers, but have acquired additional
qualifications, have been redeployed as class teachers.
0 Comments