K V Faisal, the vice principal and a physics teacher who taught for 22 years in Thrissur, was a nightmare for students. All the children in the class failed their physics exams. The education department remained in denial but was ultimately forced to check his eligibility. It was found that Faisal was employed after submitting fake degree certificates.
Faisal was hired by the privately managed but government-aided Aleem ul Islam Higher Secondary school near Padoor in Thrissur, Kerala. The school was established in 1979 and taught children from Grades 8 to 12. Faisal, who ‘taught’ for close to a quarter of a century, was finally dismissed from the service by the Education Department.
He entered service presenting B.Sc. and M.Sc. in physics and B.Ed. certificates purportedly issued from Mysore and Bangalore universities. All these documents were found to be counterfeit. Incidentally, even the school certificates of government peons are scrutinized and verified before they are employed.
Earlier, Faisal was accused of disrupting the national anthem in school. Allegedly, he disconnected the electricity in the school while the children were singing the national anthem. Allegations of Faisal’s links with fundamentalist organizations of which he was an active member have also risen earlier.
In Kerala, these are reasons enough to get ‘special’ protection. Back then, the local BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders had organized a protest march to the Aleem ul Islam school.
Faisal has faced several accusations of misbehaving with female colleagues. Similarly, the school had received many complaints about him thrashing students. Teachers indulging in physical punishment, including slapping, spanking, and hitting with any implement (cane, stick, etc.), are serious offenses that could fetch rigorous imprisonment of up to five years and fines of Rs.5 lakhs. His dismissal order came when these incidents were under investigation.
Faisal was initially suspended pending investigation when the certificates were found to be fake. The education department dismissed the bogus teacher on 10 January. Removing serving teachers is a rare move in Kerala. There is no word of action against those who helped Faisal for so long or the ones who recruited him.
So far, the fake teacher has received around one crore in salary from the school. The government order also seeks to recover this money and pay it to the public exchequer, but no action has been initiated as yet. There are indications that most of his properties will be seized.
