Teacher suspended from register for one month for forging teachers' signatures

High Court reporters

A secondary school teacher who forged the signatures of two other teachers on a form to prove he had completed required teaching practice has been suspended from the register for one month by order of the High Court.

A fitness to teach inquiry had recommended the sanction after the teacher admitted a series of five allegations of professional misconduct in relation to a form he submitted to the Teaching Council on April 27th, 2022, as part of the Droichead induction process for newly-qualified teachers.

They included that he had forged the signatures of two other teachers in the school and applied the school stamp to the same form in circumstances where he should not have done.

The teacher had also admitted to declaring on the form that he had completed his teaching practice requirements and stated such information was "true and accurate" when he knew that was not the case.

Confirming the one-month suspension from the Register of Teachers, Mr Justice Michael P O’Higgins said the Teaching Council had taken a very charitable and Christian view in relation to the sanction, which was very lenient.

However, the judge said it was put in context by the background of the case as well as testimonials put forward by the teacher’s colleagues, who thought very highly of him.

The judge said there were also mitigating factors considered by the council, including that the teacher had gone to the council immediately when the matter came to light and demonstrated insight and contrition.

Medical reports were also considered to explain “the extreme error of judgment”, the judge said, who also considered the teacher’s youth.

The Fitness to Teach inquiry was told a staff member of the Teaching Council had raised a query about the form submitted by the teacher because the signatures of three different teachers on the form "looked similar".

The inquiry heard the two other teachers had confirmed to the Teaching Council they had not signed the form or given approval for their signature to be used.

The school’s principal also claimed the unauthorised use of the school stamp was "a serious matter".

At the time of submitting the form, the teacher had not completed a requirement under the Droichead process in relation to classroom observations of experienced teachers’ practice.

The inquiry heard the teacher originally claimed the use of the signatures of the other teachers had arisen out of a "miscommunication", but quickly accepted he had acted wrongly.

The committee was also informed that the teacher had apologised to the Teaching Council in November 2022 and claimed he had genuinely misunderstood some requirements of the Droichead process.

He also admitted that his behaviour in submitting the form was wrong, but added he had "learnt my lesson".