Chhattisgarh: 2,600 dismissed teachers will be incorporated into school science labs

Raipur: Following a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Wednesday, the Chhattisgarh government declared that over 2,600 sacked assistant teachers would be incorporated into government school science laboratories. The impacted teachers, all Bachelor of Education (BEd) graduates, were fired following a high court order that declared BEd degrees invalid for elementary teaching jobs (Classes I-V), according to a statement released by the Chhattisgarh government.

The state government initially terminated the teachers, who were hired through direct recruitment in 2023, in accordance with an April 2, 2024, Chhattisgarh high court order, which followed the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling upholding the Rajasthan High Court's 2021 decision to invalidate the 2018 National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) notification that allowed BEd holders to teach at the primary level.

While the Supreme Court upheld appointments made prior to its ruling, those made later were impacted. "Our administration has done justice to the 2,621 BEd qualified assistant teachers whose positions were terminated. "We've decided to assign them the position of assistant teacher science (Laboratory)," Sai wrote on social media. The school education department is authorized to carry out this decision.