The Supreme court of India while upholding the Rajasthan High court's decision made B.Ed. (Bachelor of Education) degree ineligible for the post of primary school teachers in the state. The bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia opined that the fundamental right of primary education in India as guaranteed under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution as well as the Right to Education Act, 2009 not just included 'free' and 'compulsory' education for children below 14 years of age but also included 'quality' education to be imparted in such children. According to the apex court, B.Ed. degree holders did not pass the basic pedagogical threshold require for teaching primary classes and thus would not be able to provide 'quality' education to primary school children.
The Live Law reported, The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in a notification made B.Ed. degree holders eligible for appointment to the post of primary school teachers (classes I to V). Despite of this, Rajasthan's Board of Secondary Education issued an advertisement for Rajasthan Teacher Eligibility Test (RTET) where it excluded B.Ed. degree holders from the list of eligible candidates.
Rajasthan Government's Decision Challenged in High Court
This action of the Rajasthan government was challenged before the Rajasthan High Court. The High Court quashed the NCTE notification and held that B.Ed. candidates were unqualified for the posts of primary school teachers.
Advocates who appeared for B.Ed. qualified candidates argued that the High Court of Rajasthan failed to consider that the notification was a policy decision taken by the NCTE after the Central Government had issued directions in this regard and the High Court was wrong in interfering with the policy decision of the Central Government.
However, the Supreme Court in its verdict mentioned that ‘free’ and ‘compulsory’ elementary education was of no use unless it was also a ‘meaningful’ education. "In other words, elementary education has to be of good ‘quality’, and not just a ritual or formality!", emphasised the court.
Right To Education Act
Highlighting the object of Article 21A of the Constitution and the Right to Education Act, the court added that the Act had even set down certain norms and standards which have to be followed in elementary schools for purpose of providing a meaningful and ‘quality’ education.
D.El.Ed. degree holders trained to handle students at primary level
The top court underlined that as per NCET, the qualification which was prescribed for a teacher in primary school was a diploma in elementary education (D.El.Ed.), and not any other educational qualification, including B.Ed. It was stated that a candidate with a D.El.Ed. degree was trained to handle students at primary level, as they had undergone a pedagogical course specifically designed for that purpose.
However, a person who has a B.Ed. qualification had been trained to impart teaching to secondary and higher secondary level of students and was not expected to impart training to primary level students.
