HC terms primary teachers’ training institutes illegal

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday declared 122 Primary Teachers’ Training Institutes in the state illegal since these were not recognised by the National Council for Teachers Education.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday declared 122 Primary Teachers’ Training Institutes (PTTIs) in the state illegal since these were not recognised by the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE).

A Division Bench of Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose said these institutes should have sought recognition from the NCTE in accordance with the law.

The Bench also directed the institutes to return the money taken from the applicants for admission to the 2005-06 session. The NCTE had issued a circular in 2006 terming the institutes invalid, as they had not sought recognition from it. Subsequently, a Division Bench of the High Court passed an order restraining the admissions and the PTTIs could not admit students after 2006.

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The Wednesday’s ruling came during the hearing of a PIL filed in 2007 by Tulshi Bakshi, a resident of Kolkata.

Bakshi had alleged that the PTTIs were not recognised by the NCTE and the West Bengal Board for Primary Education had allowed them to run till 2006.

Responding to the judgment, School Education Minister Partha De said: “I have learnt that after a definite period the certificate of all the students who have passed from PTTI has been termed illegal.” De added that the state government may challenge the matter in the Supreme Court or could opt for an out of court solution with the NCTE by paying a fine to the regulatory body. The government is waiting for the final copy of the judgment and will take the decision after considering its legal implications, he added.

A senior CPM leader and member of CPM committee on education told The Indian Express that the state government is coming up with the Primary Service Commission for recruitment of teachers in the state.

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There has been no recruitment of primary teachers in the state for the last two years after the PTTIs ran into a legal hurdle and about 16,000 students could not appear in the examination. Thousands of students could not be appointed as their degrees have been termed illegal. Students caught in the stalemate are turning to politicians so that they can mount pressure on the state government for an out of court settlement of the issue.

A section of the students, along with the Trinamool Congress, will organise protests in the city this month on this issue.