Disclaimer: This has been reported after the availability of the order of the Court and not on media reports so as to give an accurate report to our readers.
Allahabad High Court: In a writ petition filed by a head teacher against her suspension due to non-attendance, the Single Judge Bench of Praveen Kumar Giri, J., directed the state to formulate a solution to ensure the presence of teachers at educational institutions/schools for poor children.
Background
The petitioner was a Head teacher in Composite Institution, Pailani, Block Tindwari, District Banda. She filed the writ petition against her suspension due to non-attendance. The suspension order was issued after an inspection revealed that the petitioner was not present at the school premises despite having marked her attendance in the morning. In fact, other staff members were also unauthorizedly absent, and no attendance had been marked for the students present.
On the last date, the Court remarked that without proper attendance of the teachers and staff of the primary institution, the purpose of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (‘RTE Act’) would be frustrated and the fundamental right of education of the poor children would be violated.
The Court remarked, “Due to the absence of teachers from school, there is a negative impact on students’ learning, such as lower academic achievement, and it creates unequal learning opportunities, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who cannot afford a private tutor or coaching.”
The Court directed the District Magistrate and Basic Shiksha Adhikari to submit reports about the District and Block Level Task Forces for inspection to ensure quality education. The Court further directed the State authorities to formulate rules and regulations to ensure the presence of the teachers during the full school day in the educational institutions/ schools for poor children in rural areas.
“The fundamental right of a child belonging to a poor village studying in a primary educational institution cannot be violated by any person, even a teacher who is treated as a Government employee/State under the Constitution.”
Analysis
At the outset, the Court remarked that there was no mechanism to ensure the attendance of teachers at the ground level. If the government had taken any measures for the attendance of teachers, the dispute would not have come before the Court.
The Court stated that in the era of technology, the attendance of teachers should be recorded as per the Acts or Rules concerned. They may be granted some relaxation if they were late for five to ten minutes due to some reasons, but they had to be present in the institution every day.
Thus, the Court directed the State Government to formulate a solution to ensure attendance of the teachers in the institutions/schools for poor children.
Regarding the petitioner, the Court noted that as the petitioner was ready to give an undertaking that she would upload her signature and attendance on the prescribed portal, and would be present in the institution on time.
Noting the aforesaid, the Court stated that upon submission of such an undertaking, it would take a lenient view and might quash the impugned order without entering into the merits of the case.
The matter was listed for 10-11-2025.
[Indra Devi v. State of U.P., Writ — A No. 14242 of 2025, decided on 30-10-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the petitioner: Harsh Narayan Singh, Prabhakar Awasthi
For the respondent: C.S.C., Rajesh Khare