734 teachers with fake certificates discovered in Cross River

The Cross River Universal Basic Education Board (CR-SUBEB) has uncovered 734 teachers with fake National Certificate of Education (NCE) and degree certificates.
Dr Stephen Odey, the chairman of the state SUBEB, disclosed this on Wednesday in Calabar while addressing some of the affected teachers and other stakeholders on the outcome of the state’s teachers’ verification.
“At the end of the exercise, I can inform you that we  discovered  734 teachers with fake NCE and degree certificates and over 230 TC 11 referrals who are also teaching.
“We have sent letters to the various institutions involved and we have their replies,’’ he said.
Odey said that Governor Ben Ayade had directed him to take any punitive measures against those involved but not to sack them.
“So we are not going to dismiss them even though they had committed fraud but we are going to allow them on humanitarian ground to go back to school and remedy their situations.
“We do not want to take away food from their tables. We are granting them amnesty because we are brothers and sisters,’’ he said.
Odey said that the governor was very disturbed about the rot in the basic education system, but had given the board the go ahead to sanitise the system at all cost.
The board chairman advised the affected teachers and others to seek admission for further studies through sandwich programmes and write his office for approval.
He said that by so doing, they could update their knowledge for the benefits of the pupils and the overall interest of the state.
Odey promised that any teacher that corrected his or her situation would be reinstated to his or her former position.
He warned teachers against truancy, adding that SUBEB had installed digital monitoring devices to monitor teachers’ activities while in school.
Speaking, the State Chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr Eyo Itam, commended the board for its efforts to sanitise the basic education sector.
“We are fully in support of you; since you assumed office, this present board had taken several steps to put the basic education in proper perspective.
“You have done many things aimed at ensuring the welfare of teachers in the state, we commend you, even though this exercise has its positive and negative parts, we are fully in support of you.
“I advise our teachers to take full advantage of this exercise and return to school through legal means to better their lives,’’ he said.
He called on affected teachers with genuine complaints to lodge same with the state chapter of the NUT.
Some teachers expressed their happiness with the measures taken by the board and promised to take necessary steps to remedy their situations.
One of the affected teachers, Mrs Rose Ibor, said that her problem was as a result of not completing her Mathematics in her school and promised to go back to the school to write the course.
“I was employed based on the testimonial from my school since I did not pass Mathematics. I will return to my school for it,’’ she said.