Teacher with false qualification certificates removed from professional register

A teacher who submitted false certificates about his qualifications to the Teaching Council has had his name removed from the register of teachers by order of the High Court.

The disciplinary committee of the Teaching Council last month found the language teacher was guilty of professional misconduct of the “most serious kind” and that he had engaged in disgraceful and dishonourable conduct that brought the teaching profession into disrepute.

After hearing evidence at a fitness-to-teach inquiry, it said the teacher’s actions had breached the code of professional conduct for teachers.

The president of the High Court on Monday granted an order sought by the Teaching Council confirming its decision to remove the teacher’s name from the register of teachers.

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Mr Justice David Barniville said there was no good reason not to confirm the sanction which also stipulates that the teacher is not eligible to reapply to return to the register for three years. The judge noted the teacher, who cannot be named by order of the court, had admitted the facts at a very early stage.

The Teaching Council disciplinary committee found allegations proven that the teacher had submitted fraudulently created documentation purportedly coming from the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) in England and the UK’s Department of Education in order to register as a teacher in Ireland in 2020.

The falsified certificates suggested he had completed a teaching induction programme in the UK.

The inquiry also found him guilty of falsely completing a form purporting to be from his former principal at a school in England and using a bogus school stamp.

The teacher also falsely claimed he had been the victim of a scam by the TRA to cover up his own fraudulent actions and he repeated the bogus claim in a complaint he had lodged with the Ombudsman about the Teaching Council.

The teacher told the hearing he accepted his conduct constituted professional misconduct “of a higher nature” and apologised for his behaviour.

However, he stressed that he never presented a danger to the public including any students or teaching colleagues.

He said he was hugely ashamed of what he had done and he had suffered as a result of his poor judgment.