Uttarakhand High Court orders removal of Shiksha Mitras

NAINITAL: The Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday while hearing the petition related to appointments of Shiksha Mitras in government schools of the state, ordered that only those who have passed the Teachers Eligibility Test or hold a Diploma in Elementary Education should be given appointment on the post. The court also ordered the removal of those who have not cleared the test.
Around 3,000 teachers working as Shiksha Mitras will be affected by this decision.
“Honorable court has ordered the removal of those working as Shiksha Mitras without qualifying TET or having DLEd certification,” said Niranjan Bhatt, advocate of the petitioners.
Eleven petitioners had filed a writ petition challenging the communication in February, 2014 issued by the National Council for Teachers Education which amended the Service Rules of the state government, whereby the Shiksha Mitras have been exempted from qualifying the ‘Teachers Eligibility Test’.
The petitioner alleged that the state government has been holding out to the central government for claiming exemption from minimum qualification required for appointment in government primary schools on the ground that there is scarcity of qualified candidates.
“Due to illegal action of the state government in absorbing the Shiksha Mitra on the post of assistant teacher, the petitioners who are qualified and belonged to reserved category are being deprived from appointment, thus, the petitioners have locus standi to challenge the illegal action of the state government as reflected in the amended Service Rules,” stated the petition.
The petitioners also alleged that the state government, National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) as well as the central government have committed illegality by treating the ‘Shiksha Mitra’ as in ‘Service Untrained Teachers’ and accordingly covering them by the notification dated August 23, 2010 issued by the NCTE.