A legal battle between the state government and a class of teachers eligible to be promoted as head teachers
Government Mappila Upper Primary School, Chennamangallur in Kozhikode has over 1,200 students and Government Mappila Upper Primary School, Kodiyathur has about 1,000. Both have not had a headmaster for the past few years.
These are included in the 151 government primary schools in the district where senior teachers have been given charge due to legal issues. According to sources, Kozhikode has 17 educational sub-districts, with Ferok, Mukkom and Kozhikode town having the highest number of such schools without a headmaster. Government Lower Primary School, Kothamangalam, Koylandi reportedly has the highest number of students without a head teacher. The teachers claim that it was difficult to pursue administration and teaching duties simultaneously.
There are over 1,600 such headless schools across the state. The legal battle is between the state government and a section of teachers who are eligible to be promoted as head teachers. To become a head teacher under the Right to Education Act, it is mandatory to have at least 12 years of teaching experience and clear the department level test and the Kerala Education Act and Rules (KEAR) examination. The Act gave candidates three years from 2011 to clear the Compulsory Accounting (Lower) exam conducted by the Kerala Public Service Commission and the KEAR exam. The Education Department has exempted people who have turned 50 by June 2, 2014 from this rule. Based on this, questions were raised on the promotion in the Kerala High Court, which directed the government to issue a notification.
The Kerala government in February 2018 issued an order making the exam qualification mandatory for teachers to be promoted as head teachers. However, sub-rule (4) u/s 45B in KEAR contradicts that order as it permanently exempts people of the age of 50 years from passing the Account (Lower) Test. The Kerala Administrative Tribunal struck down the exemption on February 25, 2019, holding that no executive order or circular of the government should go against the statutory rules.
The High Court, in another order on January 27, 2020, also quashed the age-based relaxation and directed to refund all those who were promoted as head teachers from 2018. A section of disqualified head teachers approached the Supreme Court against this order, asking for status quo to be maintained. Since then the state government has not appointed headmasters in these schools. The Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) had in February stayed a circular issued by the education department that said teachers above 50 years of age could be promoted as head teachers even if they did not clear the mandatory examinations. can.
A section of teachers says that there has been no legal impediment in the appointment of headmasters in government primary schools. The appointments were made in Wayanad, Palakkad and Thrissur districts after the teachers who passed the exam got favorable orders from CAT. When the tribunal asked whether there was any problem in the appointment of teachers, the government reportedly said there was a ban on taking only unqualified teachers.
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