Date of Publication: October 14, 2024
That the registered teacher,
- Forged a professional support team member’s signature (Teacher A) and/or another professional support team member’s signature (Teacher B) on a Form D-Droichead (“the first Form D”), and submitted the first Form D to the Teaching Council, who received it on or around 13 December 2021; and/or
- Forged a professional support team member’s signature (Teacher A) and/or another professional support team member’s signature (Teacher C) on a Form D-Droichead, dated 03 February 2022 (“the second Form D”), and submitted the second Form D to the Teaching Council, who received it on or around 11 March 2022; and/or
- Declared on the first Form D, which was submitted to the Teaching Council and which was received by the Teaching Council on or around 13 December 2021, that the information provided by the registered teacher in all sections of this form was true and accurate, when the registered teacher knew or ought to have known that this was not the case, in circumstances where;
- it contained forged signatures; and/or
- it said that the Droichead process had concluded on 09 December 2021; and/or
- Declared on the second Form D dated 03 February 2022, which was submitted to the Teaching Council and which was received by the Teaching Council on or around 11 March 2022, that the information provided by the registered teacher in all sections of this form was true and accurate, when the registered teacher knew or ought to have known that this was not the case, in circumstances where;
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- it contained forged signatures; and/or
- it said that the Droichead process had concluded on 09 December 2021.
The Panel found that each of the allegations taken individually 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:
- a breach of section 2.1 of the Code which states that teachers should “act with honesty and integrity in all aspects of their work”.
- a breach of section 2.3 of the Code which states that teachers should “represent themselves, their professional status, qualifications and experience honestly”.
- a breach of section 3.1 of the Code which states that teachers should “uphold the reputation and standing of the profession”.
Following the inquiry, the Panel of the Disciplinary Committee decided to suspend the registered teacher from the Register for a period of one month. In addition, the Panel decided to combine this sanction with a censure.
The Disciplinary Committee Panel’s decision was confirmed by the High Court on 29 July 2024 and the sanction took effect.