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Supreme Court of India directed the Jharkhand government to reserve 50 per cent of assistant teacher vacancies for para-teachers while refusing regularisation demands. The court stressed improving education quality, ending ad hoc employment practices and completing the recruitment process within ten weeks

New Delhi: Observing that strengthening education is the need of the hour rather than subsidising it with ad-hoc measures, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Jharkhand government to notify 50 per cent of the total vacancies of assistant teachers and sahayak acharyas exclusively for para-teachers within four weeks across the state.

Para-teachers are hired on fixed-term contracts under government initiatives like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to address teacher shortages quickly. The top court said the time has come for the executive to conduct periodic performance audits and eliminate ad hocism in public employment.

A bench of justices Pankaj Mithal and SVN Bhatti directed the Jharkhand government to issue a notification inviting applications exclusively from para-teachers for appointment to 50 per cent of the marked vacancies for both assistant teachers and sahayak acharyas. “The need of the hour is to strengthen education, particularly at the primary and secondary levels, rather than subsidising it with ad hoc measures. Providing education itself is not the objective, but providing comprehensive, high-quality education is…..the sense of security of employment is a sine qua non for enhancing efficiency in any service, and education is no different. The teacher-student bond is not temporary but spans the academic years. Expecting a para-teacher, without a guarantee of their employment, to guarantee a child’s future and education is fallacious. The time has come for the executive to conduct periodic performance audits and eliminate ad-hocism in public employment,” the bench said. The top court said courts do not advise the executive, but the executive, by putting in place ad hoc mechanisms, would affect society’s progress and the future of children.

The apex court was hearing a batch of appeals filed by para-teachers challenging an order of Jharkhand High Court which dismissed their pleas seeking regularisation of services as assistant teachers based on seniority and continuous service besides several other reliefs. While refusing to regularise their services, the top court said providing any relief in this regard would create a new mode of recruitment not sanctioned by law.

In an attempt to cure the purported irregularity in appointment, if para-teachers are regularised under Articles 226 or 142, it would change the source of appointment altogether, the bench said.
On the issue of equal pay for equal work, the apex court said it is not an automatic entitlement, but rather, the claimant must demonstrate that their duties, responsibilities, qualifications, accountability and conditions of service are qualitatively identical to those of regular employees.

“Para teachers, though they perform similar classroom functions, are not assigned the full range of responsibilities of an Assistant Teacher. We are of the view that the claim of para-teachers for regularisation does not rest on sound legal and constitutional principles,” the bench said.
The para-teachers have a right to participation and consideration under the extant rules, but do not have a right to regularisation, it added.

While directing the Jharkhand government to notify 50 per cent of total vacancies, the top court also ordered it to issue advertisement inviting applications exclusively from eligible para teachers for the earmarked 50 per cent of assistant teacher/sahayak acharya posts, in accordance with the Jharkhand Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules, 2012 and the Jharkhand Elementary School Sahayak Acharya Cadre (Appointment, Promotion and Service Conditions) Rules, 2022.

“Preparation and publication of districtwise/State-level merit list based on academic marks (Matric, Inter, Graduation, Teacher Training) and TET/JTET marks, in accordance with the applicable Rules.
“Completion of the entire recruitment process within 10 weeks, including finalisation of merit lists, issue of appointment orders, and communication to the appointing authority,” the bench directed.