A B.Ed.-qualified senior teacher appointed before Devesh Sharma is eligible for lower-primary Headmaster appointment.

The first respondent, Najmudden K.P., possessed a B.A. in Arabic/Afzal-Ul-Ulama from Calicut University, B.Ed., Account Test Lower, and KTET qualifications. He was appointed as a Full-Time Arabic Assistant at Pappinisseri Lower Primary School on 1 June 2005.

Following the retirement of the Headmaster on 31 May 2022, the Assistant Educational Officer placed him in charge as Headmaster with effect from 13 June 2022.

His appointment was not approved on the grounds that the seniority list and date-of-birth records had not been produced and that his B.Ed. was obtained after the cut-off date prescribed by a Government Order dated 8 June 2000.

The Government subsequently rejected his representation and held that he was not qualified for appointment as Headmaster. The Assistant Educational Officer directed the Manager to hand over charge to the next senior-most teacher and appointed the appellant, Jisha M.V., as Drawing and Disbursing Officer.

The learned Single Judge quashed the adverse orders and directed approval of the first respondent’s appointment as Headmaster with effect from 14 June 2022, holding that he was qualified under Rules 4(2) of Chapter XXXI and 45A of Chapter XIV-A of the Kerala Education Rules, 1959 (“KER”). Jisha M.V., the additional fifth respondent in the writ petition, filed the present appeal.

1. Whether the first respondent, possessing a degree in Arabic and B.Ed. but not TTC, was qualified to be appointed as an Arabic teacher in a Lower Primary School under Rule 4(2) of Chapter XXXI of the KER.

2. Whether B.Ed. constituted an equivalent training qualification under Rule 45A of Chapter XIV-A of the KER for appointment as Headmaster of a Lower Primary School.

3. Whether the Supreme Court’s decision in Devesh Sharma v. Union of India, holding that B.Ed. is not a qualification for primary-school teaching, invalidated or affected the first respondent’s appointment made in June 2022.

Rule 4(2) of Chapter XXXI of the KER recognises a degree in Arabic conferred or recognised by a university in Kerala as a qualification for appointment as an Arabic teacher in a Lower Primary School.

Rule 45A of Chapter XIV-A requires appointment as Headmaster of a complete Lower Primary School from among qualified teachers and permits a teacher possessing TTC, TCH, or “any other equivalent training qualification prescribed for appointment as Primary School Assistant” to be appointed as Headmaster.

Rule 3 of Chapter XXXI treats a degree in any subject together with B.Ed., B.T. or L.T. as a qualification for appointment as an Upper Primary School Assistant.

The Full Bench decision in SNDP L.P. School v. Roy, 2006 (4) KLT 497, recognised that an equivalent training qualification could satisfy Rule 45A.

Although Devesh Sharma v. Union of India, AIR 2023 SC 3895, held that B.Ed. is not a qualification for primary-school teaching, the Supreme Court subsequently directed that the decision operate prospectively and that qualifying appointments made before 11 August 2023 should not be disturbed, subject to the conditions stated therein.

The principle was reiterated in Navin Kumar v. Union of India, AIR 2024 SC 4748.

The Court held that the first respondent’s B.A. in Arabic satisfied Rule 4(2) of Chapter XXXI, making him qualified for appointment as an Arabic teacher in the Lower Primary School.

Interpreting Rule 45A, the Court observed that the expression “Primary School Assistant” was not confined to a Lower Primary School Assistant and included the qualification framework applicable to an Upper Primary School Assistant.

Since Rule 3 of Chapter XXXI expressly recognises a degree with B.Ed. as a qualification for an Upper Primary School Assistant, B.Ed. constituted an equivalent training qualification for purposes of Rule 45A.

The first respondent also had more than twelve years of continuous qualified service as an LPSA when the Headmaster vacancy arose.

Further, his appointment as Headmaster took place on 13 June 2022, well before the 11 August 2023 cut-off recognised by the Supreme Court in Devesh Sharma.

Consequently, the prospective protection accorded to pre-11 August 2023 appointments applied, and the later Supreme Court decisions did not require his appointment to be disturbed.

It upheld the finding that Najmudden K.P. was qualified to serve as Headmaster of the Lower Primary School and affirmed the direction to approve his appointment with effect from 14 June 2022.

The Court expressly declined to adjudicate the separate issue concerning the appellant’s appointment as Drawing and Disbursing Officer, as that issue had not arisen for consideration in the writ petition.