Kerala High Court stays unification of education under single Directorate in Kerala

The Kerala High Court has stayed the implementation of Dr MA Khader Committee report which recommended the unification of the High School Directorate, Higher Secondary Directorate and the Vocational Higher Secondary Directorate in the State of Kerala..The Committee has, in return, recommended the creation of an ex-cadre post, Director General of Education for the purpose of administration, supervision and overall control of education in the State..The order was passed by a Single Judge Bench of Justice PV Asha in a petition by an association of Higher Secondary teachers in Kerala..It is the petitioner’s case that the Committee is inconsistent with the National Policy of Education as well as the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14, 16 and 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India..The Petitioner has alleged that the report of the Khader Committee is “incomplete”. It is submitted that the implementation of its recommendations would be vague and lack sense as no special rules have been framed..The Petitioner has also argued that the findings of the committee are unscientific, impractical and biased..“..(the implementation of the report) will bring disaster and total anarchy and chaos in the field of higher education in the state….the report of the committee have not focused on the crux of the problem, though the report runs into several pages, there is absolutely no cogent and clear reason as to how the members of the committee have reached the conclusion that the system prevailing hitherto in the higher education sector is either unsatisfactory or affecting the quality of education…The unification of examinations around 53 subjects are extremely disadvantageous to the students community and prejudicially affect the academic excellence of the institutions and cause mental agony and great anxiety to the students.”.It is further contended that the recommendations of the committee was accepted and upheld by the State Government without any due application of mind..“..the Government has undone in unholy haste, a perfect system which stood the test of time ever since it was introduced, that is almost three decades. There is absolutely no rationale in appointing the Khader Committee, the terms of reference of which is vague without clarity..the report also does not address the relevant issues but rested its conclusion that common directorate is best suited to the interest of teachers and students…But strangely, the committee does not point out how the common Directorate would help improve the quality of education and the service conditions of the Higher Secondary Teachers.”.The Kerala High Court was also informed that pursuant to an invitation to discuss the issue, the petitioner had given its objections to the State Government before the Committee’s findings were upheld. However, the same were not considered..“The invitation for the discussion was extended to the petitioner association, it was understood later it was only a farce. At the same time, the association of High School Teachers owing allegiance to the CPI (M) political party and other left organizations whose representatives were also present, though obviously no objections had been raised at their instance, the authorities had already decided to implement Dr. Khader Committee recommendation without paying any heed or addressing the concerns expressed by the petitioner association.”.It is also alleged that the Khader Committee’s conclusions did not even refer to the recommendations made by other Committees as well on the issue..After hearing the petitioner, the Kerala High Court stayed that implementation of the Committee’s recommendation for two months..The Petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate George Poonthottam and Advocate Nisha George..[Read order].[Read Petition].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.