DEHRADUN: Acting on confidential intelligence that a large number of school teachers were working with fake documents, the Uttarakhand Department of School Education has taken a decisive step by sacking 65 of the defaulters simultaneously.
After receiving information regarding school teachers landing jobs using fraudulent credentials, the government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. Through the investigation, information pertaining to another seven teachers who had joined the schools with fake certificates was brought to light. Senior officials within the Education Department have expressed grave concern over the matter.
The Director of primary education, Ramkrishna Uniyal, told The New Indian Express, "During the verification of certificates of teachers in primary and junior high schools, it was found that some of them had fake credentials. The services of 62 such teachers have been terminated."
"13 teachers have approached the High Court against their termination, while action is underway to terminate the services of seven other teachers," added Uniyal.
Apart from this, three teachers in secondary education, one from Pauri Garhwal and two from Rudraprayag district have also been terminated from service. Another teacher from Udham Singh Nagar has been suspended and is being investigated.
"76 per cent of certificates submitted by the teachers in the primary education sector have been verified, while 24 per cent is still pending for verification," said Uniyal.
Meanwhile, in the Haridwar district, a total of 122 teachers, 10 clerks, and one principal are currently under investigation for alleged misconduct related to cheating complaints.