2024 Supreme(Online)(MAD) 16204
HIGH COURT OF MADRAS
Hon`ble Mr.Justice R.VIJAYAKUMAR
MOHAMED ISMAIL.K – Appellant
Versus
THE DIST EDUCATIONAL OFFICER – Respondent
The court established that educational authorities must comply with procedural fairness and existing regulations while approving teacher appointments, ensuring adherence to the RTE Act and recent legal precedents.
Headnote:
Education - Teacher Appointments - RTE Act, Tamil Nadu Private Schools Regulation Act - Section List: RTE Act provisions, Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation) Act, 2018, Rule 15(4) of Tamil Nadu Recognised Private Schools Regulation Rules - The court emphasized the need for compliance with RTE provisions regarding teacher-student ratios, surplus teachers, and teacher eligibility tests while granting approvals for teacher appointments, resulting in a direction for expedited approvals by educational authorities.
Fact of the Case:
A batch of writ petitions was filed by school management and appointees seeking approval for teaching positions amid delays from educational authorities citing various reasons including surplus staff and lack of qualifications.
Finding of the Court:
The court highlighted a pattern of arbitrary rejections by authorities and underscored the necessity for them to adhere strictly to established procedures and guidelines while considering approvals for appointments, specifically referencing past judgments and legislation.
Issues: The main issues included whether the authorities' rejections for teacher approvals were justified based on surplus staff and qualification requirements, particularly regarding the Teacher Eligibility Test.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that previous approvals, staff fixation orders, and specific needs assessments must be respected when considering appointments, and that arbitrary rejections or citing new reasons post-facto were impermissible.
Final Decision: All writ petitions are allowed, directing authorities to process appointment approvals within eight weeks.
The batch of 61 writ petitions have been filed either by school management or by individual appointees seeking a writ of mandamus directing the authorities to approve their appointment as Secondary
Grade Teachers / B.T.Assistants / Director of Physical Education
(Grade-II).
2.Since the approval applications are pending for several months, these writ petitions have been filed seeking a mandamus as against the authorities for approving the appointments.
3.This Court could have very well directed the authorities to consider the proposals forwarded by the school management within a specified time. In many cases, the authorities are rejecting the request for approval on one ground and when the said order is set aside by the Court, the authorities cite a different ground altogether and again proceeded to reject the proposal submitted by the School. Mostly the proposal submitted for approval of the appointment submitted by the management are rejected/returned by the authorities on the following grounds:
(a)There are surplus Secondary
Grade/B.T.Assistant teachers in the concerned School or in the corporate management or within the educational district.
(b)The appointed teachers have not passed TET
(c)The School has not obtained prior permission from the authorities to effect appointment.
(d) In appointment of B.T.Assistant teachers, subject roster has not been followed.
(e) As against the order of the Hon'ble Division
Bench in W.A(MD).No.76 of 2019 batch case, the Special Leave Petitions are pending before the Hon'ble
4.The Hon'ble Division Bench by its order dated
(The Secretary to Government & others Vs. Iruthaya Amali & another)
the following order:
95. In view of the aforesaid discussions, we are inclined to pass the following orders in this batch of cases :
"(a) For the purpose of fixing the students-teacher ratio, the provisions of RTE Act followed by the G.O. passed in this regard shall be taken as the basis and the student pupil ratio shall be either 1:30 or 1:35 as the case may be as per the provisions of RTE Act.
(b) For the purpose of fixing the staff strength of a school, school shall be the unit and not the Educational agency / joint management / corporate management.
(c) Once the staff strength is fixed in a particular academic year of a school, it is the duty of the Educational authorities to identify the excess staff and once the excess staff are identified, the same shall be intimated to the school concerned as per the compendium of schedule and thereafter, take steps to redeploy those excess staff to the needy school.
(d) Once the excess staff are identified and after keeping the Institution intimated, if those excess staff are redeployed to the needy school within a stipulated time as per the compendium of schedule, the redeployed staff shall join duty in the redeployed school.
(e) The following compendium of schedule, for the aforesaid purpose, i.e., for fixing the teaching staff, identifying the excess teaching staff and to redeploy the identified excess teaching staff to the needy school, are framed as hereunder.
(f) COMPENDIUM OF SCHEDULE :
(i) Closing of Admission for the purpose of fixation of staff strength - 31st July of that academic year.
(ii) Fixation of staff strength of the school concerned, based on the student strength as on 31st July as per the strength of the pupil updated in the EMIS - 10th August.
(iii) The aforesaid fixation of staff strength of the school shall be intimated to the school on or before 15th August. (iv) On receipt of information from the Department, the
School concerned shall give its objection if any, based on the teacher-pupil ratio on such fixation of staff strength by 25th of
(v) On receipt of such objection, if any, from the school concerned, the final order of fixing the staff strength of the school, with the provisional order for identification and redeployment of excess staff shall be passed by the
Department by 5th of September.
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