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The Allahabad High Court has upheld the validity of a government order setting the minimum eligibility qualifications for the post of assistant teacher in recognised junior high schools. Candidates must hold a graduation degree from a university recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and possess a teacher training qualification approved by either the state government or the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), news agency PTI quoted the order as saying. The decision came from a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra while hearing a special appeal filed by the state government. The appeal challenged an earlier order dated September 24, 2024, passed by a single judge, which had quashed clause 4 of the government order issued on September 9, 2024. The single judge had allowed a writ petition filed by Yashank Khandelwal and nine others, who contested the eligibility criteria prescribed for admission to the Basic Training Certificate (BTC) course. Clause 4 of the government order had made it mandatory for candidates applying for the post of assistant teacher in recognised junior high schools to possess a graduation degree along with the required teacher training qualification. The writ petitioners had sought directions to allow them and other candidates to apply for admission to the two-year Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) programme based on their intermediate qualification, which they had obtained from the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET). They had also requested the court to quash the portion of the government order that required a graduation degree as a criterion for admission to the BTC training course. The single judge had ruled in their favour, striking down clause 4 and directing the state authorities to allow the petitioners to participate in the admission process for the training course. However, after hearing arguments from both sides, the division bench observed that the various rules and provisions indicated that the requirement of training had been given significant importance and that the intention of the law was clear, stating that only graduates should be eligible for appointment as assistant teachers, even in training courses recognised by the government or notified by the NCTE for teaching children from Classes 1 to 8. “Therefore, if the State Government, in every Government Order, right from 1998 till today, has prescribed graduation as minimum qualification for taking admission in B.T.C./D.El.Ed. course, the same being in consonance with the Rules of 1981 and not said to be an arbitrary provision,” the court added. ALSO READ: ICAI CA Result 2025: Stationery Shop Owner’s Son, Mukund Agiwal, Secures Rank 1 With these observations, the division bench set aside the single judge’s order dated September 24, 2024, and dismissed the writ petition filed by the respondents, thereby upholding the state government’s stance on maintaining graduation as the minimum qualification for teacher training admission.
