TET qualifications are not mandatory for teacher appointments in minority institutions, as clarified by applicable court rulings.

ORDER

The present writ petition has been filed seeking a Writ of Certiorari to quash the impugned proceedings dated 05.10.2023 of the 4th respondent and further direct the 3rd respondent/CEO and the 4th respondent/DEO to approve forthwith the appointment of A.Sweetlin Jeba as BT Assistant (English) in the petitioner School with effect from her dated of appointment viz., 02.01.2023.

2. Heard Mr.K.Ragatheesh Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Mr.M.Siddharthan, learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents.

3. By consent of both parties, this writ petition is taken up for final disposal at the stage of admission itself.

4. The petitioner school which is a minority institution, has appointed one Sweetlin Jeba as B.T. Assistant English on 02.01.2023. The vacancy arises due to the retirement of Secondary Grade Teacher by name Antonyammal on 31.12.2022. When the appointment proposal of Sweetlin Jeba was sent to the third respondent for approval, the approval was rejected by assigning the reason that the BT Assistant post as per the staff fixation 2022-2023 is surplus and one post in Secondary Grade Teacher also surplus but subject to the pending litigation and that the appointee did not have TET eligibility.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that so far as the staff fixation is concerned, the writ petition has been filed in W.P.(MD)No.3901 of 2024 and in the said writ petition, interim order has been given for staying the order of the third respondent to declare one Secondary Grade Teacher post in the petitioner school as surplus.

6. So far as the post of BT Assistant is concerned, the same has been rectified subsequently on the representation of the petitioner and hence, that issue will not arise and TET requirement is concerned the position of law is well settled.

7. In the mean while, the legal position as to whether TET qualification is mandate for the Teachers appointed in the minority institutions have been settled by the Division Bench of this Court in W.A.No.313 of 2022 etc., batch, by its order dated 02.06.2023. In the said judgment, the following legal position have been crystallized under paragraph Nos.71.1, 72 and 73 as to whether TET is mandatory for the Teachers in minority school. The same is extracted hereunder:

“WHETHER TET IS A NECESSARY MANDATE FOR TEACHERS APPOINTED IN MINORITY SCHOOLS:

71.1. A perusal of the orders impugned in the writ petitions leading to these writ appeals would indicate that the fact that the teachers, in respect of whom approval of appointment was sought for by the school, did not possess TET pass eligibility was not a ground for refusal for grant of appointment approval, nor was it an issued raised before the Learned Single Judge at the time of disposal of the writ petitions. Only in the writ appeals, the State Government has raised an additional ground that the teachers whose appointment approval was sought for, did not possess TET. Notwithstanding the same, it is hereby clarified that by virtue of the judgment of the Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust & Ors. v. Union of India, [(2014) 8 SCC 1], wherein it was held that the RTE Act, 2009 insofar as it applies to minority schools, aided or unaided, covered under Article 30(1) is ultravires the Constitution, meaning thereby that the 2009 Act will not apply to minority schools, the eligibility of TET pass as required for appointment of teachers in non-minority schools, will not apply to minority schools. In other words, the approval of appointment of teachers in minority schools, both aided and unaided, cannot be refused or rejected on the ground that they do not possess a pass in TET. Further this specific issue is also pending consideration before the Supreme Court and the law laid down by the Supreme Court in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust, cited supra, holds the field as on today. For these reasons, the order of the Learned