Three government school teachers suspended for submitting fake OTET certificates

Three government school teachers in Odisha's Jajpur district were placed under suspension for submitting fake teachers eligibility test certificate, an official said.

Barachana Block Education Officer (BEO) Harihar Dalei has placed the three teachers - Aniya Kumar Baral of Teligada primary school, Jayanti Sahoo of Akarabad primary school and Raziya Sultana of Charinangal primary school - under suspension for submitting fake Odisha Eligibility Teachers Test (OTET) certificate to get jobs and increments.

"The three teachers have been placed under suspension following the pending of departmental proceedings against them for submission of fake OTET certificates,”" an official order of the BEO office said on Friday.

The District Education Officer (DEO) Ranjan Kumar Giri said that they have filed FIRs against the accused teachers with Barachana police station for legal action. "“We have stopped their salary and started departmental proceedings against them as per the government rule," he said.

An RTI activist Abhimanyu Barik had sought information about the teachers employed in government schools of Barachana, their qualifications and related certificates. He was informed that some teachers were serving in government schools by submitting fake certificates. Barik then drew the attention of the DEO towards these illegal postings in March this year. Based on the allegation, Giri launched an investigation and found the three fraudulent cases in primary schools of Barachana. During the investigation, it was also found that the three teachers also got increments on the basis of their forged OTET certificates.