Teaching Council of Zambia Registrar Dr Abby Mubanga says the 498 teachers who have been exposed for teaching without proper qualifications will be deregistered from the system because the damage they have caused is irreparable.

And Dr Mubanga said the Teaching Council has also informed the employers of the affected teachers as well other law enforcement agencies so that disciplinary action can be taken.

Speaking when he featured on Muvi TV’s ‘The Assignment’ programme on Sunday, Dr Mubanga further said the council was establishing a database for students.

He said that the teachers were exposed at the ongoing Teacher Registration and that out of the 1000 teachers whose certificates had been verified by the Examination Council of Zambia, 498 had been teaching without qualifications.

“In fact those are not teachers, they are masqueraders. First of all the Teaching Council of Zambia is established by an Act of Parliament through the teaching profession Act number 5 of 2013, and in this Act the teacher is defined; and one of the definitions of a teacher is that a teacher must be qualified. That is why I called them masqueraders because they don’t fit into the definition that is in the Act. So we would say they are not teachers,” Dr Mubanga said.

“Of course they are still in the system, we haven’t said they have stopped working, but we have informed relevant bodies so that they take action because as a council, we have to inform all the players to say this is what we have found so that together, we should think from the same page.
To register a teacher first of all the qualifications has to be verified so that we are sure to say these qualifications are genuine, they were earned by this person, from a recognized institution. But the process is ongoing because we are also engaging other institutions that award those qualifications.”

He said because the offence committed by the teachers was criminal in nature, disciplinary action would be taken on them.

“So those that were found not to posses the right credentials or the right requirements can never be registered… So for those that will be registered, I think until they retire, they will never be required to register again. We have already informed their employers and employers need to executive disciplinary action. Of course apart from that, because the offence committed is criminal in nature, of course we have to also engage other law enforcement agencies,” Dr Mubanga said.

He said out of 498 teachers found wanting, 391 were employed in government institutions while 107 were in the private sector.

“In terms of distribution 391 are in government and then 107 are in the private sector. And then the provincial distribution is that Lusaka has 121, Southern Province 66, Copperbelt 59, Central Province 49, Muchinga 42, Northern and Luapula 37 each, North Western 32, lastly Western province 24,” he said.

He added that those found wanting had fake Grade 12 and GCE certificates, as well as teacher education qualifications awarded by the examinations council of Zambia.

This assignment was executed by the Examinations Council of Zambia, I think the issued came through the Grade 12 certificates, and the GCE as well as those teacher education qualifications which are awarded by the Examinations Council of Zambia. The damage that has been made is irreparable,” said Dr Mubanga.