79 Punjab teachers with fake degrees dismissed

Seventy nine primary school teachers in Punjab have been dismissed after an Education Department inquiry revealed that their appointments we...

Seventy nine primary school teachers in Punjab have been dismissed after an Education Department inquiry revealed that their appointments were based on fake degrees.

Not only were the degrees fake, but in some cases even the universities that had ‘‘awarded’’ the degrees were found to be non-existent.

The dismissal orders were issued yesterday and instructions to this effect have been sent to the block education officers concerned.

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Appointed in 2001, during the Akali-BJP government, it was found that most of these teachers carried B.Ed degrees awarded by one Magadh University in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, which does not exist.

Interestingly, soon after these appointments, several complaints had been made to the Education Department about the 7,230 selected candidates carrying fake degrees.

However, it was only after the Congress came to power, that the degrees were re-checked.

The name of then Education Minister, Tota Singh, had also cropped up in these appointments based on fake degrees.

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‘‘On scrutiny, many universities cited in the certificates were not found to exist,’’ said a senior Education officer.

Dr Jagtar Singh Khatra, Director Primary Instructions (DPI), who is a part of the ongoing investigations, said many more cases are likely to come to light.

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