Sun, 24 Sep 2017 10:20:01 +0000
By SIMON MUNTEMBA
EXPEDITE the process of firing teachers found to have forged their certificates to stop them from reaping further from where they did not sow, the New Congress Party (NCP) has urged government.
NCP president, Peter Chanda said there was urgent need for relevant authorities to fire the fake teachers without delay to avoid them from looting the government’s coffers further.
In its latest update, the Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ) disclosed that 563 teachers were found with forged certificates.
According to TCZ registrar, Ebby Mubanga, this was revealed during the ongoing teacher registration exercise for teachers throughout the country.
Dr. Mubanga disclosed that from the Examinations Council of Zambia verification exercise from over 100,000 verified applicants, 563 teachers were found to have presented forged certificates.
But Pastor Chanda told the Sunday Nation in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that it was prudent upon the relevant authorities to take stern disciplinary measures on fake teachers without delay.
The NCP leader said as the largest employer in any country, Government through the Public Service Management Division must leave no stone unturned and ensure that all those found wanting face the wrath of the law.
Pastor Chanda said the development of teachers being found with forged certificates is a saddening one, adding that the TCZ should quickly take the required steps to fire the fake teachers to protect the teaching profession.
“The bogus teachers who forged their qualifications to get teaching jobs deserve no leniency, they are criminals who are supposed to be fired immediately and be replaced by genuine teachers to stop them reaping from where they did not sow,
“But firing them should be done systematically to ensure the pupils are not affected in anyway. However, they deserve to be fired before next year and replaced with teachers with genuine qualification,” Pastor Chanda said.
He said that teachers were role models in society.
Pastor Chanda also said it was not fair that people with genuine teaching papers who spent not only huge sums of money but also sacrificed everything were unemployed at the expense of those with fake papers.
“The system, I mean government, should clean up the mess now, investigate how and where these fake teachers got their certificates from and replace them with genuinely qualified teachers. Government should ensure that these bogus teacher are removed from the system before next term, January 2018,” he said.
Pastor Chanda said teachers who concocted their educational career and academic qualifications to create a life for themselves and that of their families deserves no leniency as their conduct was criminal.
He advised teachers and those aspiring to be teachers to get back to school and upgrade themselves in terms of education and not using short cuts which could lead them into serious trouble.
