Education

Allahabad High Court Orders Verification of UP Government School Teachers’ Credentials

By Akriti Anand

The Allahabad High Court has instructed the Special Task Force (STF) to verify the appointment letters and educational records of all teachers posted in government‑run basic schools in Uttar Pradesh who teach classes I to VIII. A bench led by Justice Vinod Diwakar directed teachers of classes 1 to 8 to submit legible copies of their appointment letters and educational documents to the relevant Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) within one week of receiving the notification. The required documents include those related to high school, intermediate, graduation, B.Ed./B.T.C. (including D.El.Ed., B.El.Ed., etc.), and TET/CTET.

The order, issued on 16 October, came after the court learned that many teachers in the state had been employed using forged documents or documents belonging to other teachers. The issue surfaced when a writ petition was filed by Kusumlata, who sought a direction to the District Basic Education Officer in Sant Kabir Nagar to approve her appointment as an Assistant Teacher and release her salary. She claimed appointment in Siddharth Nagar district on 2 January 2006 and promotion on 12 July 2010, but was suspended on 11 February 2021 on allegations of using forged documents. An inquiry found that she had used educational documents belonging to Kusumlata Srivastava, a teacher posted in Gorakhpur district.

On 8 October, the court directed the petitioner to appear before the Additional Superintendent of Police, STF, Lucknow, on 12 and 13 October with all her documents. The STF was also ordered to investigate the validity of the documents within one week and submit a report. The petitioner did not appear, citing recent surgery, and no representative appeared on her behalf.

The bench was informed that the STF investigation had uncovered widespread forgery, with instances where ten or more teachers had been employed using a single set of documents. The court referred to a previous order that had directed action against teachers who secured appointments fraudulently, including cancellation of appointments and recovery of salaries, and had imposed disciplinary and penal action on officials who colluded or ignored such appointments.

Consequently, the court ordered a statewide verification exercise. Teachers must submit notarised affidavits disclosing immediate relatives (spouse, parents, children, in‑laws, siblings‑in‑law, first‑degree cousins) who have held office in the Uttar Pradesh Education Department at the BSA level or above. Teachers without such relatives must file an undertaking. BSAs are to instruct school headmasters to ensure compliance, compile an Excel sheet recording each teacher’s name, appointment date, qualifications, minimum qualification required at the time, and merit score under the applicable Gazette notification, and forward the information to the STF Range Office.

The Director of Education will supervise the exercise, while the Additional Director General of Police, STF, will oversee verification and investigation. The court warned that any laxity or dereliction of duty by officers would be taken seriously and that they could be held personally accountable.

The court also linked fraudulent appointments to the deteriorating quality of primary education, noting that many primary schools have closed due to declining student numbers, which the court said was not solely due to lack of resources but also to inadequate teacher performance. The matter is scheduled for hearing on 4 November.