Srinagar, May 16

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court made a teacher write an essay on cow and solve a Class IV maths problem in an open court and ordered slapping a case against him when he failed, inviting strong observations from the judge who wanted “soulless” authorities to close down education “tuck shops”.

The direction came yesterday when Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar was hearing a petition challenging appointment of Mohammad Imran Khan as Rehbar-e-Taleem (education guide) teacher in a school in south Kashmir.

The petitioner had alleged that Khan’s certificates, issued by the Board of Higher Secondary Education Delhi and Global Open University, Nagaland, were not recognised. The marksheet issued to the respondent by the Board of Higher Secondary Education, Delhi, showed he had secured 74 per cent, 73 per cent and 66 per cent in Urdu, English and Maths, respectively.

The court asked a senior counsel to give a simple line for translation from English to Urdu and vice-versa, but the teacher failed.

The teacher was then asked to write an essay on ‘cow’ in Urdu, but he failed. Khan sought permission to write the essay outside the court room, which was granted but he failed again.

Khan, who claimed he had better hold on mathematics, was then asked to solve a maths problem for fourth graders.

As he failed yet again, a visually perturbed Justice Attar said, “In this situation, what would be the fate of the state has to be only visualised. The school-going children ... would pass out as blockheads.”

“The authorities, responsible to ensure that the stream of academics and education is not polluted in the state of J&K, however, in view of the facts, which have surfaced in this case, have acted as soulless bodies with ray-less eyes, as they have criminally condoned and over-looked the Himalayan blunders committed in procuring the academic degrees,” the court observed.

Justice Attar went on to describe the study centres which provide certificates to unworthy candidates as “tuck shops”.

“The writ petition at hand throws up most startling and classical example of sale and purchase of academic degrees, for which many tuck shops are operating in the state and responsible for relegating the student community to the dark cave of Plato,” he said.

The court also directed Commissioner and Secretary of the Education Department to constitute a panel which would ask the teachers who produce such degrees to appear for screening and ascertain if they had the required ability to teach students.

“The ReT teachers who fail in such a screening test, their certificates would require to be seized after affording opportunity of hearing to them. The authorities shall consider termination of their services after following principles of natural justice as same will be in the larger interest of the student community and society,” the court said.

The judge then asked the Director, School Education Department, to refer the instant case to the police station concerned for registration of a case to initiate action. — PTI