By Ushang Ewa
The Chairman of the Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board (CRSUBEB), Dr. Stephen Odey Thursday said the board discovered 734 teachers with fake National Certificate on Education (NCE) certificates in its 2 months long verification exercise.
“At the end of the exercise, I can inform you that we discovered over 734 teachers with fake NCE and degree certificates and over 230 teachers with referred grade II (TC II) certificates,” Odey said while addressing affected teachers and other stakeholders on the outcome of the exercise which lasted from January 18 to March 14, 2017.
Continuing, he said that letters have been sent to the institutions involved and the replied in the affirmative and assured that the affected teachers will not be sacked but demoted.
“We have sent letters to the various institutions involved and we have their replies,’’ he said, adding that; “So, we are not going to dismiss them even though they have committed fraud, but, we are going to step them down and allow them on humanitarian grounds, 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.”
Odey who said the exercise will aid in the correction of salary irregularities also warned teachers against acts of truancy as the board is committed to sanitizing the rot in the basic education system and disclosed that digital devices will be installed in the near future to monitor teachers activities in schools.
“SUBEB has officially taken over payment of teachers’ salaries, we have worked out modalities where there will be regular payment of salaries,” Odey said and advised affected personnel to seek admission for further studies in order to update their knowledge for the benefits of the pupils and the interest of the state.
He urged them to write to his office for approval after gaining admission and promised that those who acquire their certificates will be reinstated to their former positions.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers in the state, Eyo-Nsa Itam, commended the board for its efforts to sanitize the basic education sector and called on affected teachers with genuine complaints to lodge same with the union.
“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 advantage of this exercise and return to school through legal means to better their lives,” Itam said.