CHENNAI: Bringing the curtains down on the raging controversy over weightage in teachers’ recruitment, Madras High Court on Monday upheld the new system, observing that the object and rationale behind it was to have more qualified ones as teachers.
The Court upheld the orders of a single judge and a consequent GO dated May 30 this year, which applied weightage system for recruitment of secondary grade teachers in the State.
“There is no material available before us to hold that the Government did not apply its mind. The object and rationale behind the selection of teachers is to have more qualified ones to teach the students. This can only be augmented by a wider participation. Therefore, the policy decision taken by the government keeping in mind the public interest, cannot be assailed,” observed the Second Bench of Justices SK Agnihotri and MM Sundaresh.
The Bench was dismissing a batch of writ appeals challenging the orders on a single Judge dated April 29 and writ petitions questioning the May 30 GO, which was passed based on that.
The Bench said the methodology adopted by the government in quantifying the percentage of marks with respect to Teacher Eligibility Test could not be termed as arbitrary, as contended by the appellants and petitioners. It is for them to demonstrate that the methodology adopted is not correct.
“The single Judge had correctly found that the earlier methodology adopted was not correct. The government has correctly removed the anomalies and adopted a more rational method, compared to those adopted in States like Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, where less percentage of marks had been given to the marks obtained in the TET,” the Bench pointed out.
There was no non-application of mind and there was nothing wrong in the suggestion made by the single Judge. He had merely stated that it was for the government to adopt either the suggestions made by him or to follow any other method. The government had found it fit to adopt the suggestion made by him, as being reasonable and fair. “We do not find any illegality in passing the GO,” the Bench said.