Supreme Court Rules B.Ed. Graduates Ineligible for Primary School Teaching Posts
The Supreme Court of India has upheld the Rajasthan High Court’s decision, declaring that Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree holders are not eligible for appointment as primary school teachers. The apex court’s bench, consisting of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, emphasized that the fundamental right to primary education, as enshrined in Article 21A of the Indian Constitution and the Right to Education Act, 2009, encompasses not just ‘free‘ and ‘compulsory‘ education for children below 14 years but also mandates the provision of ‘quality‘ education.
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“A good teacher is the first assurance of ‘quality’ education in a school. Any compromise on the qualification of teachers would necessarily mean a compromise on the ‘quality’ of education.”
It further added
“The value of Primary education can never be overstated.”
The core issue revolved around a 2018 notification by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) that deemed B.Ed. degree holders eligible for primary school teaching positions (classes I to V). However, when the Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan, released an advertisement for the Rajasthan Teacher Eligibility Test (RTET), it excluded B.Ed. degree holders from the list of eligible candidates. This exclusion led to challenges in the Rajasthan High Court.
The Supreme Court highlighted that the NCTE’s qualification for primary school teachers was a diploma in elementary education (D.El.Ed.), specifically designed for teaching primary level students. In contrast, B.Ed. graduates are trained for secondary and higher secondary levels. The court remarked
“Therefore, by implication the inclusion of B.Ed. as a qualification amounts to lowering down of the ‘quality’ of education at Primary level.”
The court further emphasized the importance of ‘quality‘ in primary education, stating
“In other words, elementary education has to be of good ‘quality’, and not just a ritual or formality!”
It also noted the pedagogical shortcomings in B.Ed. courses for primary classes and asserted that any compromise on the quality of primary education would contravene Article 21A and the RTE Act.
Addressing the argument that policy decisions should not be interfered with, the Supreme Court held that if a policy decision is contrary to the law and appears arbitrary and irrational, the powers of judicial review must be exercised. The court clarified
“In the present case and in the larger context of the matter, we cannot even see this as a policy decision… In fact, it goes against the letter and spirit of the Fundamental Right enshrined in the Constitution under Article 21A.”
The court concluded by upholding the Rajasthan High Court’s decision, stating that the NCTE’s move to include B.Ed. as a qualification for primary school teachers was
“arbitrary, unreasonable and in fact has no nexus with the object sought to be achieved by the Act i.e. Right to Education Act, which is to give to children not only free and compulsory but also ‘quality’ education.”
The case is titled Devesh Sharma v. Union of India | Civil Appeal No. 5068 of 2023.