A teacher charged with hugging, touching, and being overly familiar with 9-year old female students has been censured by the Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal.

The teacher who raised the allegations felt that there was nothing sinister in the touching but it was overly familiar.

The Tribunal ordered that the teacher’s registration be cancelled but if he voluntarily relinquished his registration the cancellation would not take effect.

The teacher had already resigned from his teaching position and taken up other employment.

Voluntarily giving up his certificate leaves the door slightly more open if the teachers applies to register in the future and also looks much better on a CV than a deregistration.