The Allahabad High Court upheld the validity of a government order requiring minimum necessary qualifications for the position of assistant teacher at a recognised junior high school.
According to the GO, individuals applying for assistant teacher positions must have a graduation degree from a university recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) as well as a teachers training course approved by the state government or the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
A two-judge panel comprising of the Allahabad HC Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra issued the aforesaid observation in response to a special appeal filed by the state government challenging the ruling dated September 24, 2024, PTI reports.
In the 2024 judgment, a single judge of the Allahabad HC granted a writ petition submitted by Yashank Khandelwal and nine others, and invalidated clause 4 of the government decree dated September 9, the same year.
Clause 4 of the government order dated September 9, 2024 establishes minimum eligibility requirements for the position of assistant teacher at a recognised junior high school.
The writ petition was filed seeking directions to the respondent authorities to permit the petitioners and other candidates to seek admission to the two-year Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd) course at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) based on their Intermediate Certificate Examination or an equivalent qualification.
It also sought to quash the impugned government order that prescribes graduation as the eligibility criterion for admission to the two-year Basic Training Certificate (BTC) course.
After hearing the parties, the division bench observed that a perusal of various rules and provisions shows that, at first instance, they appear to relate to the appointment of assistant teachers in basic schools, where ‘training’ has been given due importance.
It further noted that the intention of the law is that, even for a training course recognised by the government or any training qualification notified by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to teach children from Classes I to VIII, only graduates are eligible for appointment.
"Therefore, if the State Government, in every Government Order, right from 1998 till today, has prescribed graduation as minimum qualification for taking admission in B.T.C./D.El.Ed. course, the same being in consonance with the Rules of 1981 and not said to be an arbitrary provision," the court added.
With all of those observations, the single judge's ruling and order of September 24, 2024 was set aside, and the respondents' writ petition was dismissed.