The Allahabad High Court has upheld the Uttar Pradesh government’s order mandating that only graduates with recognized teacher training qualifications will be eligible for appointment as assistant teachers in recognised junior high schools across the state.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra delivered the ruling recently while setting aside a single-judge order that had quashed the qualification clause in the government’s directive dated September 9, 2024.

The earlier order, passed by a single judge, had favoured a group of petitioners—led by Yashank Khandelwal—who argued that the government’s requirement of a graduation degree for admission to the two-year Basic Training Certificate (BTC) or Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) course was unjustified.

The petitioners sought permission for candidates with only an intermediate qualification to be allowed entry into the course.

However, the division bench rejected that contention, holding that the government’s insistence on a graduation degree aligns with long-standing education norms and statutory intent.

“From a perusal of various rules and provisions, it is evident that even for training courses recognised by the government or the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to teach classes I to VIII, the eligibility criterion requires graduation,” the court observed.

The bench further noted that the state’s consistent position since 1998—prescribing graduation as the minimum qualification for BTC/D.El.Ed. courses—was in harmony with the Uttar Pradesh Basic Education (Teachers) Service Rules, 1981, and could not be termed arbitrary.

With these observations, the High Court upheld the state’s order, restoring the requirement that assistant teachers in junior high schools must possess both a graduation degree from a UGC-recognised university and a teacher training qualification approved by the state government or the NCTE.