The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court turned down an appeal by the State of Tamil Nadu, which argued against approving a vocational teacher's hiring at St. Joseph's Girls Higher Secondary School in Madurai. The court decided that the hiring should go ahead, even though the State didn't agree.
St. Joseph's Girls Higher Secondary School, a school for a specific community, has been allowed to offer job-related courses like Accountancy and Dress Designing since 1980. When a teacher retired in 2018, the school hired Ms. K. Sahaya Prabha as the new vocational teacher. However, the District Educational Officer didn't approve this hiring.
"The State said that new vocational teachers shouldn't be hired after 2009."
The State, represented by Mr. T. Amjadkhan, said that a government rule from 2009 stopped the hiring of new vocational teachers. They claimed that any open positions should go back to the department, and no new courses could start without permission.
The school's lawyer, M/s. A. Amala, argued that the 2009 rule only stopped new courses, not the ones already there. The school kept running its job-related courses and needed teachers for them.
"The school said that the courses were still running, with students getting government benefits."
The court, with Judges C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Vijayakumar, found no reason to support the State's appeal. They noted that the job-related courses were still running, and students were taking exams and getting benefits. The court emphasized that the State's arguments didn't matter because the courses weren't stopped.
The court dismissed the appeal, allowing the hiring to stand. This means the school's job-related courses can continue with the right teachers. This case shows how important clear government rules are and the need to help schools offer different learning options.
