Aspiring teachers seeking employment in aided schools or junior colleges in the state will now have to take an eligibility and aptitude test conducted by the state education department.
The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday upheld the validity of section 9 (2A) and (2B) of the Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (MEPS) (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1981. This makes it mandatory for these institutes to select new teachers from amongst those securing a high rank in the test.
The division bench justices RK Deshpande and Vinay Joshi was hearing three separate petitions filed by educational institutes challenging the provision of the MEPS Rules. They contended that the provision binds the institute’s management to appoint teachers only from the merit list prepared by the state education department.
They said this violates the institute’s fundamental freedom of selecting candidates of their choice and interferes with the autonomy of the educational institute.
However, HC ruled that the state government was competent to prescribe additional qualifications for the candidates seeking appointment in aided educational institutions.The additional requirement did not interfere with the right of managements to select and appoint qualified and suitable candidates of their choice, the bench said.
The court also added that the additional requirement would help reduce corruption, nepotism, favouritism and other such malpractices while appointing teachers.
However, the court struck down a government resolution related to the provisions, which mandates school management to appoint candidates in order of the merit list prepared by the state department. Institute managements cannot be mandates to appoint teachers strictly per the order of merit list without judging the comparative merit and suitability, said HC.
{{/usCountry}}However, the court struck down a government resolution related to the provisions, which mandates school management to appoint candidates in order of the merit list prepared by the state department. Institute managements cannot be mandates to appoint teachers strictly per the order of merit list without judging the comparative merit and suitability, said HC.
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