Question: Is it possible to dismiss a teacher with higher education who has participated in teacher certification twice (once mandatory and once extraordinary) but failed the certification tests in both cases, and give their teaching load to a teacher who has not yet completed higher education (a 5th-year student in distance learning)?

Answer: Appendix No. 1 to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers dated September 17, 2021 No. 572 "Regulations on the Procedure for Certification of Teaching Staff of Preschool, General Secondary, Secondary Specialized, Vocational and Extracurricular Educational Organizations" defines the procedure for certification of teaching staff.

According to Clause 44 of these Regulations, if pedagogical staff holding the position of specialist (teacher with higher education) fail to pass the next mandatory certification, the employer has the right to terminate the employment contract with the employee due to insufficient qualifications in the manner prescribed by labor legislation.

According to Clause 44-1 of the Regulations, if the employer does not terminate the employment contract, a pedagogical staff member holding the position of a specialist (teacher with higher education) who has not passed the next mandatory certification is subject to extraordinary certification no more than three times.

In this case, the employment contract with a pedagogical staff member who did not pass the extraordinary certification in any of the three attempts or did not participate in the certification without a valid reason (except for long-term incapacity for work due to illness and performance of state or public duties) is terminated due to insufficient qualifications of the employee.

Based on the above situation, according to the requirements of the Regulation "On the Procedure for Class Formation and Preparation of Tariff Lists in General Education Institutions" (registration number: 3271), the level of a teacher who has not passed certification in terms of class distribution is one step higher than the requirements for a graduate of a higher educational institution in the pedagogical field as a teacher without a category with higher education.

Consequently, in this situation, to terminate the employment contract with the physical education teacher who has not passed the certification, they will need to be subjected to extraordinary certification two more times.