No Blanket Ban On All Teachers Holding 18 Months D. El. Ed. Through NIOS: Supreme Court Directs WB Authorities To Consider Candidature For Post Of Assistant Teacher
The Supreme Court allowed a Civil Appeal against the Judgment of the Calcutta High Court’s Division Bench which affirmed the Single Judge's Judgment.
Justice BR Gavai & Justice Augustine George Masih, Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has directed the West Bengal State authorities to consider candidature of aggrieved persons for the post of Assistant Teacher.
The Court was hearing a Civil Appeal filed against the Judgment of the Calcutta High Court’s Division Bench which affirmed the Judgment of the Single Judge.
The two-Judge Bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih remarked, “It can therefore be seen that even though the learned Single Judge of the High Court placed reliance on paragraph 56 of the judgment of this Court in the case of Jaiveer Singh it came to the wrong conclusion inasmuch as it put a blanket ban on all teachers holding an 18 months D. El. Ed. through NIOS.”
Senior Advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Vibha Datta Makhija represented the Appellants while Senior Advocates Jaideep Gupta, Gagan Gupta, and Biswajit Deb represented the Respondents.
Background
In 2017, the Central Government through Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), by way of a letter addressed to the Principal Secretary/Secretary Education of all States and Union Territories (UTs) apprised them that in terms of Section 23 of the Right to Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), the in-service untrained elementary teachers in the Government/Government Aided/Unaided-Private Schools are required to be trained. It was further informed that the period for such training is being extended to March 31, 2019 by way of an amendment to the RTE Act and that this will be the last chance to acquire the requisite minimum qualifications and that any untrained teacher would not be allowed to continue in-service beyond April 1, 2019. Thereafter, on August 10, 2017, the amendment to the RTE Act was notified by way of a Gazette Notification.
Brief Facts
The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) after considering the recommendations of an Expert Committee, granted relaxation to certain provisions of the NCTE (Recognition, Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2014 for ensuring compliance with the Central Government’s directions. The duration of the Diploma in Elementary Education (D. El. Ed.) programme was reduced to 18 months instead of 2 years by including/subsuming the 6 months’ internship within the 18 months. The Appellants completed their 18 months D. El. Ed. Programme through National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) issued a notification for recruitment of qualified trained candidates to the posts of Assistant Teachers in Government Aided/Government Sponsored/Junior Basic Primary Schools. In July 2023, a set of candidates desirous of recruitment to the post of Assistant Teachers, filed a Writ Petition before the High Court.
It was their specific averment that D. El. Ed. is a course of 2 years and that any candidate who has obtained the qualification pursuant to the programme through NIOS i.e., by sitting for the 18 months D. El. Ed. programme, should not be considered for the purposes of recruitment in terms of the recruitment notification issued by the WBBPE. It was their further prayer that the High Court direct the Respondent-authorities to not only restrict the 18 months NIOS trained candidates but also to declare that the 18 months programme by NIOS is not at all identical to the 2 years D. El. Ed. programme from a recognized institution. The Single Judge directed the WBBPE to not recruit any teachers holding D. El. Ed. issued by NIOS under ODL mode i.e., the 18 months course from the recruitment process of the year 2022 onwards. Being aggrieved, the Appellants filed an intra-Court Appeal but the Division Bench dismissed the same. Hence, they approached the Apex Court.
Reasoning
The Supreme Court in view of the above facts, observed, “… it is clear that the judgment of this Court in the case of Jaiveer Singh unequivocally held that the entire scheme emanating from the NCTE Recognition Order dated 22nd September 2017 was for the purpose of providing a window to the in-service teachers inasmuch as unless they would have acquired requisite qualifications prior to 1st April 2019, they would not have continued to remain in service and would have faced dismissal from service.”
The Court further noted that any teacher who was in service as on August 10, 2017 and who acquired the qualification of D. El. Ed. by way of the 18 months programme through NIOS prior to April 1, 2019 is a valid diploma holder and at par with any other teacher who has completed the 2 years D. El. Ed. programme.
“… we are of the considered view that the Division Bench of the High Court erred in not interfering with the judgment and order of the learned Single Judge. … It can further be seen that to avoid any confusion, this Court in the review petition again clarified that such of the teachers who acquired the 18 months D. El. Ed. through NIOS and who were in employment as on 10th August 2017 would be treated as a valid diploma holder for the purpose of applying in other institutions or for promotional avenues”, it added.
The Court, therefore, held that the Judgment of the High Court is not sustainable. It also clarified that such of the teachers who were in employment as on August 10, 2017 and who completed the 18 months D. El. Ed. (ODL) programme through NIOS before April 1, 2019 shall be considered as valid diploma holders for the purpose of applying in other institutions and/or for promotional avenues.
“We direct the respondent-authorities to consider the candidature of such of the appellants who were in service as on 10th August 2017 and that who, on verification, are found to satisfy the eligibility criteria shall be appointed within a period of three months from today”, it directed.
Accordingly, the Apex Court allowed the Appeal and quashed the Judgment of the High Court.
Cause Title- Kousik Das & Ors. v. State of West Bengal & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 448)
Appearance:
Appellants: Senior Advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Vibha Datta Makhija, AORs Gaurav Singh, Santosh Kumar, Advocates Suryodaya Prakash Tiwari, Shachi Pandey, and Praveen Gaur.
Respondents: Senior Advocates Jaideep Gupta, Gagan Gupta, Biswajit Deb, AORs Kunal Chatterji, Abhinay, Anando Mukherjee, Shalini Chandra, Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, Abhijit Sengupta, Devendra Kumar Shukla, Advocates Maitrayee Banerjee, Rohit Bansal, Deeksha Prakash, Kirti Vyas, Shwetank Singh, Arun Kumar, Abhinav Kumar, Amit Thorat, Dibyadyuti Banerjee, Sumedha Halder, Paras Chauhan, Suryodaya Prakash Tiwari, and Shachi Pandey.
