The Madras High Court has directed Special Government Pleader D.Krishnakumar to verify whether any request had been made to National Council for Teacher Education for extension of time for implementing NCTE's newly- amended regulations in respect of government-run teacher institutions in Tamil Nadu.
The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, directed Tamil Nadu Teacher Education University, which has not filed a reply, to file it within a week after depositing Rs.10,000 to Tamil Nadu Mediation Centre.
The Bench directed the Special Government Pleader, appearing for State Higher Education Department, also to file the reply within a week.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by Tamil Nadu Self-Financing College of Education Management Association which challenged certain amended provisions made by NCTE.
It sought a direction to declare the amended provisions and certain clauses of the Regulations-2014 of NCTE "as null and void, unenforceable, invalid, arbitrary and unjust besides unconstitutional."
The Association submitted there are 670 Teacher Education Institutions (Colleges) offering B.Ed, M.Ed courses in the state. As per the new regulations, B.Ed and M.Ed courses hitherto being offered as one year course, had been enhanced to two years each and thereafter the candidates must qualify for Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).
The amendments were introduced by NCTE with a direction that the new regulations should be implemented within a time- frame of 21 days.
Earlier when the petition came up for hearing on January 29, counsel for NCTE Ramakrishna Reddy informed the court that the timeframe of 21 days stipulated to implement the amended new regulations will not be given effect till the pendency of pleas filed challenging it.
