Cuttack: In a significant ruling, the High Court has stated that candidates holding a two-year B.Ed. degree are eligible for appointment as Junior Teachers. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arindam Sinha and Justice Mruganka Shekhar Sahoo issued this directive, instructing that the names of the petitioners be included in the provisional selection list for recruitment. The court also set aside an earlier order passed by a single-judge bench.
The case revealed that the School and Mass Education Department had published a notification in 2023 for the recruitment of 20,000 Junior Teachers. The notification specified that candidates with 50percent marks in graduation and a one-year B.Ed. degree were eligible to apply. However, the petitioners, who held a two-year B.Ed degree, were excluded from the selection list. Challenging this decision, the petitioners filed a case in the High Court.
On October 4, 2024, a single-judge bench of the High Court dismissed their petition. In response, the petitioners filed a writ appeal before the division bench. They argued that the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) had introduced the one-year B.Ed. program in 2010, but from 2014 onwards, the one-year B.Ed. course was discontinued, and from 2015-16, the two-year B.Ed. program had been implemented. However, the School and Mass Education Department had followed the outdated one-year B.Ed. rule for the 2023 Junior Teacher recruitment.
During the hearing, it was argued that excluding the petitioners from the selection list was illegal. The High Court accepted their argument and ordered that their names be included in the selection list.
During the hearing of the case filed by the petitioners, the court further directed that they be given appointment opportunities.
No responses yet