The Supreme Court has revoked the appointment of 1.78 lakh “Shiksha Mitras” whose jobs on July 25 were ruled as teachers in junior schools in Uttar Pradesh. The strong step on the part of SC had been made as the candidates did not hold adequate qualifications that the Centre had kept as benchmark under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.
A bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit held that their jobs could not be regularised at the cost of fundamental right of children to free quality education by duly qualified teachers. The court, however, said that they should be given opportunity to be considered for recruitment as teachers if they have now acquired the requisite qualification. It also allowed the state government to continue them as Shiksha Mitras on same terms on which they were working prior to their absorption.
The bench explained, “On the one hand, we have the claim of 1.78 lakhs persons to be regularized in violation of law, on the other hand is the duty to uphold the rule of law and also to have regard to the right of children in the age of 6 to 14 years to receive quality education from duly qualified teachers. Thus, even if for a stop gap arrangement teaching may be by unqualified teachers, qualified teachers have to be ultimately appointed. It may be permissible to give some weightage to the experience of Shiksha Mitras or some age relaxation may be possible, mandatory qualifications cannot be dispensed with. Regularization of Shiksha Mitras as teachers was not permissible.”
The court made it clear that appointment of Shiksha Mitras was not up to the mark that they could be eligible to become teachers and hence the ruling passed. It stated, “Regularization could only be of mere irregularity.”
The apex court expressed, “In view of our conclusion that the Shiksha Mitras were never appointed as teachers as per applicable qualifications and are not covered by relaxation order under Section 23(2) of the RTE Act, they could not be appointed as teachers in breach of Section 23(1) of the said Act. The State is not competent to relax the qualifications.”
It advocated, “We are unable to agree that even unqualified teachers ought to be allowed to continue ignoring the legislative mandate or that we should exercise our jurisdiction under Article 142 to undo the said mandate. Consideration for career of 1.78 lakh Shiksha Mitras, over and above their legal right, cannot be at the cost of fundamental right of children to free quality education by duly qualified teachers in terms of legislative mandate.”
The minimum qualification Shiksha mitras were supposed to gather was intermediate. They were appointed by the state government in 1999. They had been assigned to provide aid to the villagers in getting their children enrolled in schools and raise awareness about the need and virtue for education in life at all points.
The National Council Teachers’ Education (NCTE) declared that only those who qualify Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) will be appointed as teacher from the primary level upwards. Those who were already at job, however, had been granted five years to take up the exam.
Despite this, the Samajwadi Party government began the process of regularizing the shiksha mitras in 2012. Moreover, it amended the teaching rules in May 2014 stating that the shiksha mitras will not be required to qualify the TET to come into the profession. This ruling came with the announcement of making their assimilation as assistant teachers.
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