Fake diplomas: Prosecutor urges Education Ministry to immediately cancel teachers’ registrations

Prosecutor Teresa Sosa has again pressed Paraguay’s Education Ministry to cancel the teaching registrations of educators who admitted using forged university diplomas. She urged Education Minister Luis Ramírez to remove them from the official system after the ministry failed to cancel their records.

The case involves four teachers who admitted using false diplomas from the Autonomous University of Asunción. The documents helped them apply for a 2023 public competition for teaching positions in state schools. Sosa’s request emphasizes that the ministry’s registration and certification process formally confirms a person’s academic suitability to society.

The prosecutor asked the ministry to report whether the four people had been removed from SIGMEC, the Integrated System for MEC Management. Removing them would prevent them from competing for teaching positions through the ministry. Sosa also requested documents proving that any exclusion had taken place.

“

The registration of a title and the granting of a teaching license is an administrative act by which the MEC certifies to society the academic suitability of a citizen.

The educators named in the request are Alba Mariela Caballero Paiva, Alicia Silva Medina, Alcides Ditrich Cabrera and Ana Gabriela Leguizamón Villagra. Caballero Paiva and Silva Medina faced prosecution after admitting that they submitted unauthenticated documents. The Criminal Guarantees Court No. 11 granted them conditional suspension of proceedings for 12 months.

Caballero Paiva must also repair the financial damage by paying 16,379,356 guaraníes in 12 installments. In Silva Medina’s case, the court ordered compensation for social damage but did not specify the amount or the measures required. The article also states that Cabrera and Leguizamón received prison sentences, but the provided text ends before giving further details.

“

Report whether the individuals have been excluded from the computerized system known as SIGMEC, so that they are prevented from competing for positions as teachers before the MEC.