The Chhattisgarh government has announced that primary school teachers who lost their jobs on the back of a high court ruling last year will be rehired as assistant teachers in government school science laboratories.
The decision, taken at a cabinet meeting Wednesday, came after months of protests by Bachelor in Education (B.E.d.)-trained teachers, who lost their jobs following the Chhattisgarh HC’s April 2024 ruling. In its order, the HC quashed a 2023 notification from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) requiring primary teachers to have a B.Ed degree.
Instead, the court held that a Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) was the qualification needed for the position. The ruling meant that appointments of over 2,500 primary school teachers would be annulled.
Announcing the cabinet decision on X Wednesday, Chhattisgarh’s Finance Minister O P Choudhary described it as a “historic decision”.
“Adjustment of 2,621 B.Ed. qualified Assistant Teachers to the post of Assistant Teacher Science (Laboratory) who have retired from service in Direct Recruitment 2023,” the post said.
The protesters have welcomed the decision. “We want to thank the Chief Minister and the government. We also want to thank the opposition (Congress party) as well and to all the social organizations that stood with us and the media for giving our protests wide coverage,” Vikas Mishra, one of the teachers leading the campaign, told .
In April last year, the Chhattisgarh HC declared the September 2023 appointment of B.Ed teachers null and void, instead holding Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) to be the primary qualification needed for such appointments in primary schools. The ruling was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court in September.
In January – days after the HC voiced its displeasure at the state government’s delay in appointing DEl.Ed teachers – the Vishnu Deo Sai dispensation began issuing termination letters to B.Ed teachers, leading protesters to intensify their agitation, with 30 teachers courting arrest.
