Eligibility rules fixed for teachers

Any appointment made in contravention must be held void: SC

Observing that the education should be the main concern of a nation, the Supreme Court has said eligibility criteria fixed for teachers in elementary and primary schools should not be compromised.

A bench of Justices B S Chauhan and F M I Kalifullah made the ruling while refusing to interfere with a Gujarat High Court order re-instating the service of a teacher.

“Every generation looks up to the next generation with the hope that they shall build up a nation better than the present. Therefore, education which empowers the future generation should always be the main concern for any nation.”

“We see that education is an issue, which has been treated at length in our Constitution. It is a well accepted fact that democracy cannot be flawless; but, we can strive to minimise these flaws with proper education,” the bench said.

The court dismissed an appeal filed by Bhartiya Seva Samaj Trust against the High Court’s order upholding the order to revoke termination of Yogeshbhai Ambalal Patel.

The trust contended that Patel possessed merely BSc and B Ed degrees and did have qualification of Primary Teachers Certificate as required under the Bombay Primary Education (Gujarat Amendment) Act, 1986.

Patel, on his part, submitted that the trust had acted with malice against him as people with similar qualifications were still working in the primary school run by it.

After going through the rival contentions, the court noted that it was a clear-cut case of victimisation of Patel by the school management for raising his voice against exploitation.
Though the court did not find any “cogent” reasons to interfere with the HC’s order because the trust acted with “malice” against Patel, it stressed the need for strictly complying with the eligibility criteria of teachers.

“Education and particularly that of elementary/basic education has to be qualitative and for that the trained teachers are required. The legislature in its wisdom after consultation with experts fixes the eligibility for a particular discipline taught in a school. Thus, the eligibility so fixed required very strict compliance and any appointment made in contravention thereof must be held to be void,” the bench said.