Screen teachers with ‘tuck shop’ degrees: HC to govt

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 11

The High Court today directed the government to identify and conduct screening test of only those Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers who had obtained degrees through distance mode from institutions termed as “tuck shops” by the court.

The teachers having obtained their degrees through distance mode from the regularised and reputed institution have been exempt from the screening test by the court.

The state Education Department had earlier asked all the Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers to go through a screening test.

The directions were passed by a single bench of Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar.

The court was hearing a petition wherein it had been requested to prohibit the Education authorities from giving effect to a government order dated December 29, 2015.

As per the government order all the ReTs and regularised ReTs had been directed to appear in a screening test to determine their eligibility.

“The government was duty bound to conduct the survey for tracing out the degrees of the like nature (tuck shops) which came under the cloud...After finding such type of degrees, it was this class of the ReTs which was to be subjected to screening test for testing their teaching capabilities,” Justice Attar observed.

The petitioners stated that by virtue of government order dated December 29, 2015, all the ReTs and RReTs had been asked to appear in the screening test, when, as a matter of fact, the High Court in its judgment dated May 14, 2015 had directed Commissioner/ Secretary, Education Department to look into the “hazards”, which the type of degrees (degrees having been obtained by candidates through distance mode from institutions referred to as tuck shops by the HC) must have caused to the society.

Stating that the government had not complied to the aforesaid directions and not conducted survey about teaching capabilities of ReTs/RReTs before passing the December order, the court today made it clear that the “teachers who have obtained their degrees through distance mode from the regularised/reputed institutions” may not in the first instance be subjected to the screening test.

“The government shall have to conduct thorough survey in respect of this class of people also. But they cannot be clubbed with the persons whose reference has been made in the order dated May 14, 2015,” it said.

The High Court further said the government was “duty bound to enhance the teaching capabilities” of the teachers by “imparting training” to them.

“The teachers being the respectable members of society have to keep on enhancing their teaching skills by continuously studying,” it added.

“Respondents shall subject only such type of ReTs/RReTs to the screening test who constitute a class with the person(s) whose capability was tested by the court in the aforesaid case,” the court said.

“Such type of persons shall be identified forthwith and they alone in the first instance shall be subjected to the screening test,” it said, adding that the impugned government order (dated December 29, 2015) shall be regulated and implemented as aforesaid.