Opinion
Faking of certificates for various reasons seems to be on the rise in the country.
A number of universities, such as the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University of Cape, have sacked students over the years for using forged certificates for admission.
The news that the Ghana Education Service has busted 114 fake teachers is worrying.
Out of the total of 114 fake teachers nabbed for either using someone's certificate or a forged certificate, 102 of them work in the Brong Ahafo Region.
This revelation follows recent staff verification exercise conducted by the Ghana Education Service in its quest to flush out teachers using fake certificates.
The result was about unprofessionalism; they are not professional teachers; some were using forged certificates; some certificates were not their own.
GES has promised to prosecute the affected teachers.
Some of the teachers, after hearing of the news, have also absconded, but they would surely get them.
Recently, 120 pupil teachers with fake documents in the Upper Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region were also exposed.
The report revealed that persons with as low as basic education certificates managed to creep into the school system and acted as teachers with fake certificates.
A degree or a professional certificate is a valuable commodity, which means that for some people the idea of falsely claiming one can be too tempting to resist.
All industry experts agree that faking an academic qualification is like carrying a ticking time bomb with no idea of when it could go off.
It could happen when you claim the qualification for the first time, or it might take years before it explodes in your face --- taking your riches and your reputation with it.
This might have come as a surprise to some people, but it is the truth. While some people operate as teachers, though they have no certificates, others try to use forged documents to teach our children.
Teaching is a noble and enviable job. It has to be jealously protected and preserved against invasion by charlatans.
It is never a ‘job for the boys’. One needs a strong base of academic, professional, social and moral resources to be able to do it well.
The trained teacher adopts appropriate instructional materials and teaching pedagogy to cause a lasting desirable change in the life of the learner.
The taste of people to enter the education sector with questionable papers appears to be on the rise these days.
Even pupils in basic schools now struggle to access certificates through foul means, notwithstanding the consequences this action could bring on them when caught.
While commending the GES for exposing these criminals, questions about how they entered the system remain to be answered.
The kind of certification verification conducted before teachers are recruited must also be questioned.
While prosecuting the busted teachers, GES must go a step further to identify officials who connived to employ such people and prosecute them as well.
