1,400 India School Teachers Resign in Fake Degree Probe

Local Editor

Some 1,400 primary school teachers have quit in an eastern Indian state in recent months amid an ongoing investigation into fake qualifications, an education official said Friday.

More resignations are likely before the end of an amnesty period that allows teachers in Bihar to quit to avoid legal action for falsifying their degrees, state education department principal secretary R.K Mahajan said.

The High Court ordered an investigation in May into the state's 350,000 primary teachers on concerns that up to 25,000 had joined government schools without proper training.

Resignations poured in as the probe got underway, with officials scrutinizing teacher CVs, before the court ordered the amnesty last month, which ends on July 9.

"The 1,400 resignations have come before the court order on an amnesty," Mahajan said.

Mahajan said he did not think the final number of departures would be problematic, saying "there will be no vacuum in the education system".

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team