Date of Publication: March 06, 2023
The following allegations were proven:
That the registered teacher did the following:
- Submitted to the Teaching Council a Teaching Council form (Form: PPQA-01) entitled Application for Registration and Assessment of Qualifications dated 6 September 2019 and received by the Teaching Council on or around 6 September 2019, in which she represented that she held a named undergraduate degree qualification, from a UK university, when she knew or ought to have known this was not the case; and/or
- Created a false certificate purporting to be from the Department for Education (England) confirming that she had attained “qualified teacher status” on a date in 2012; and/or
- On or around 22 October 2019, sent an email to the Teaching Council attaching the false certificate referred to in allegation 2 above, which certificate confirmed that she had attained “qualified teacher status” on a date in 2012, when she knew or ought to have known that this was not the case; and/or
- On or around 25 June 2019, applied within the State for a post-primary teaching position and in doing so, represented that;
- she was registered to teach two named curricular subjects, when she knew or ought to have known that this was not the case; and/or
- she was registered under “Both Regulation 4 and Regulation 5” of the Teaching Council’s registration regulations, in circumstances where she knew or ought to have known that she was not registered under Regulation 4 (Post Primary); and/or
- she had a named degree qualification from a UK university, when she knew or ought to have known that this was not the case; and/or
- that the information provided in all sections of the application form were true and correct when she knew or ought to have known that this was not the case; and/or
- Created a document falsely purporting to be a degree parchment from a UK university, confirming that she had been awarded a named degree qualification on 31 July 2013, and/or
- On or around 31 October 2019 sent an email to an employer within the State attaching the falsely created document purporting to be a degree parchment from a UK university, referred to in allegation 5 above.
The Panel decided that each of the above proven allegations taken individually amounted to professional misconduct. The Panel also found that, taken cumulatively or in combination, the allegations amounted to professional misconduct.
The Panel also made findings in relation to breaches of the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers updated 2nd edition, 2016, (“the Code”), as follows:
- Allegations and sub-allegations 1-6 inclusive, above, individually, in combination and cumulatively constitute a breach(es) of paragraph 2.1 of the Code, which states that “teachers should act with honesty and integrity in all aspects of their work”
- Allegations and sub-allegations 1-6 inclusive, above, individually, in combination and cumulatively constitute a breach(es) of paragraph 3.1 of the Code which states that “teachers should uphold the reputation and standing of the profession”
- Allegations and sub-allegations 1, 3, 4(a) – (d) and 6 inclusive, above, individually, in combination and cumulatively constitute a breach(es) of paragraph 2.3 of the Code which states that “teachers should represent themselves, their professional status, qualifications and experience honestly”
Following the Inquiry, the Panel of the Disciplinary Committee decided to remove the registered teacher’s name from the register of teachers and decided the registered teacher would not be eligible to apply to be restored to the register, under Section 31 of the Teaching Council Acts 2001 to 2015, before the expiration of a period of five years.
The Disciplinary Committee Panel’s decision was confirmed by the High Court on 12 December 2022 and the sanction took effect.