In a significant judgment, the Chhattisgarh High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, has ruled that the Chhattisgarh School Education Service (Educational and Administrative Cadre) Rules, 2019, cannot exempt the requirement of a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree for Agriculture teachers in Higher Secondary Schools. The court declared the exemption “unconstitutional and ultra vires,” reinforcing the binding nature of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) regulations.
Case Background
The case (WPS No. 3309 of 2024) was filed by a group of petitioners possessing graduate degrees in Agricultural Science along with B.Ed. or Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) qualifications and having cleared the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET). The petitioners challenged a state notification dated March 5, 2019, which removed the mandatory B.Ed. qualification for Agriculture teachers in Higher Secondary Schools, arguing that this contradicted NCTE regulations.
The petitioners, represented by Advocate Ajay Shrivastava, argued that such an exemption undermines educational standards and allows untrained individuals to teach. The respondents, including the State of Chhattisgarh (represented by Additional Advocate General Yashwant Singh Thakur) and the NCTE (represented by Advocate Bhaskar Payashi), defended the notification, claiming it was necessitated by a shortage of Agriculture teachers in the state.
Important Legal Issues
The core legal question before the court was whether a state government could set teacher qualification standards that conflict with those prescribed by NCTE under the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993. The petitioners emphasized that under Sections 12-A and 32 of the Act, the NCTE exclusively determines the minimum qualifications for teachers, and state governments cannot unilaterally alter these requirements.
Similar cases from other states were considered, including the Uttarakhand High Court’s decision in Pushpa v. State of Uttarakhand & Ors. (2023), which invalidated a similar exemption, and the Supreme Court’s affirmation of this ruling in Suman Lal & Ors. v. State of Uttarakhand & Ors. (2023).
Court’s Observations
The division bench firmly held that state governments lack the authority to override NCTE-mandated teacher qualifications, stating:
“The NCTE Act, 1993, and Regulations, 2014, are binding upon the state while framing rules. The state cannot dilute the prescribed qualifications for teachers at its discretion, as such actions violate the principles enshrined in Article 254 of the Constitution of India.”
The court also emphasized that appointing non-B.Ed. teachers in Higher Secondary Schools contravenes NCTE guidelines and disrupts the uniformity of teacher education standards across the country:
“The minimum qualification of B.Ed. for teachers in secondary and higher secondary schools, as fixed by the NCTE, prevails over the Chhattisgarh School Education Service Rules, 2019. Any deviation from this standard without NCTE approval is illegal and unsustainable.”
Decision of the Court
The High Court struck down the exemption clause in the 2019 state rules, declaring it unconstitutional. The judgment mandates the Chhattisgarh government to revise its rules to ensure that B.Ed. remains a compulsory qualification for Agriculture teachers in Higher Secondary Schools.
“The State Government of Chhattisgarh is directed to include the requisite qualification of B.Ed. for appointment on the post of Teacher (Agriculture) and to proceed in accordance with the provisions of regulations of 2014.”
