Woman turns herself in to police after using fake credentials to teach for 16 years in Istanbul
ISTANBUL
The woman identified as Selda D., started working in 1999 as a contractual English teacher at the Gültepe Primary School after she applied to the education ministry as a regular teacher with fake diplomas and certificates upon a vacancy announced by the ministry.
The woman, who was initially a high-school graduate and a housewife, was appointed as a regular teacher to a vocational school in the Küçükçekmece district of Istanbul.
She reportedly worked as a teacher in three different schools and said she earned a total salary of around half-a-million Turkish Liras.
Selda D. said she quit her job after feeling remorse about it, and turned herself in to the police.
“I regret this big mistake that I made. I cannot sleep at night and I walk around like a dead person during the day, because I feel very guilty about it,” she told the police in her confession.
A court prosecuted to sentence her to two years in prison in the first hearing of the case, and later reduced the sentence to one year and eight months, however finally decided to make a verdict in five years’ time.