OVER 500 TEACHERS WITH FORGED CERTIFICATES FACE PROSECUTION

By SIMON MUNTEMBA CLOSE to 500 teachers will be prosecuted for being in possession of forged certificates, the Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ) has revealed.

In its quest to execute the legal mandate, TCZ which provides for the regulation of teachers, their practice and professional conduct started the teacher registration exercise in June, 2016, which was launched by the Ministry of General Education.

Subsequently, about 130,000 teachers from across the country applied for teachers registration exercise as a requirement for any teacher to carry out teaching and related function in any school in Zambia in pursuant to Teaching Profession Act No.5 of 2013.

However after exercise, the regulatory body found a total of 498 teachers with forged certificates.

TCZ Registrar, Ebby Mubanga said that from the Examinations Council of Zambia verification exercise, involving over 100,000 applicants, 498 teachers were found to have presented forged certificates.

“Of the 498 teachers with forged documents, 391 teachers were in government schools, colleges of education and administrative offices. Some of these officers unfortunately are education administrators at various levels,” Dr. Mubanga said.

Speaking at a press briefing yesterday, Dr. Mubanga said that 107 teachers with fake certificates were from the private sector institutions spread across Zambia.

The Registrar said some of the teachers had forged both school certificates and professional teachers’ certificates.

He has however, said that all the culprits will be disqualified from registration in accordance with section 12 of the Teaching Profession Act No.5 of 2013 and reported to the law enforcement agencies because forging of certificates was a criminal case. Dr. Mubanga said that the council has already reported the matter to the Ministry of General education and the Teaching Service Commissioner who were the employers, adding that the private employers will also be informed soon.

He said the Teachers register will soon be published and certificates will be issued only to eligible teachers who upon being registered shall apply for their practicing certificates.

Dr. Mubanga reiterated that no school or college in Zambia whether private or public will be allowed to engage unqualified personnel without clearance from the council.

He said the commission will not rest until sanity was restored into the teaching profession as education was key for sustainable human and national development.

In hierarchy in terms of Provinces with the teachers found with fake certificates, Dr. Mubanga listed Lusaka as the highest with 121, Southern 66, Copperbelt 59 and Central province with 49.

Others are Muchinga with 42, Northern and Luapula with 37 each, North-Western 32, Eastern 31 and Western with 24 teachers with forged certificates.