‘Fake teachers’ could face jail time – dept
Sace has embarked on a countrywide investigation into the validity of teachers' qualifications at both secondary and tertiary level
POLOKWANE – The South African Council of Educators (Sace) recently opened a case with the police after it was found that a teacher had fake qualifications.
According to Spokesperson for the Limpopo Education Department, Dr. Naledzani Rasila, Sace has embarked on a countrywide investigation into the validity of teachers’ qualifications at both secondary and tertiary level.
In a press release issued recently, Sace chief executive officer Rej Brijraj stated:“The Council is now working with universities‚ education departments and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to ensure all qualifications of all teachers are authentic.”
Rasila said there is a lot of ground to cover when verifying the qualifications of teachers.
“There is a long list of processes to be followed. This takes time. There is the Department of Basic Education as well as the different governing bodies that need to look at a teacher’s qualifications,” Rasila said.
He said issues such as fake qualifications are missed by certain educational institutions but they will eventually find out if a qualification has been falsified and the ‘fake teacher’ will be dealt with.
He added that falsifying qualifications is a crime and the department will open a case against the person guilty of this and they could face jail time as a result.
Rasila said when a teacher has been found out, it is not the school that opens a case. Instead, the Education Department in conjunction with Sace will take action against the guilty party.
