Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia, J. - (1.) Relief claimed in the present six writ petitions is for revising the result by giving grace marks to the petitioners for the Punjab State Teachers Eligibility Test -I (for short, the 'PSTET - 2015'), held on 13.12.2015. Further directions are prayed for applying for the ETT teachers against the advertisement dated 09.11.2015 (Annexure P3) by considering them having passed the said test.
(2.) The pleaded case of the petitioners is that in view of the Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and the notification issued laying down the minimum qualifications for appointment of teachers from Class I to Class 8, the respondent - Board had been entrusted the responsibility of conducting the PSTET, 2015. The question paper was to consist of 150 questions which were objective type with multiple choice on OMR sheet with one correct answer of each question of appropriate standards. The duration of the paper was 150 minutes and there were to be no negative marking. Paper -I was for the applicants who intended to be teachers of Classes 1 to 5 and Paper -2, who intended to be teachers of Classes 6 to 8. The applicants who intended to be teachers of both levels had to appear in both the papers. The qualifying marks were 60% and 55% for persons falling under Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes/ Differently Abled Persons.
(3.) The test was held on 13.12.2015, as per public notice dated 07.11.2015. Prior to the holding of the test on 09.11.2015, applications were invited from eligible candidates to fill up 3522 posts of ETT teachers. The educational qualifications were Matriculation/10+2 and candidates were to have the training/elementary training of 2 years course of Punjab State or from any other State or Union Territory declared equivalent and recognized by the Punjab Government. Besides the said qualifications, passing in the PSTET -I, conducted by the Punjab Government was the requirement. The marks obtained in the PSTET were also to be the basis of merit. Relevant clause reads as under: "2. Educational Qualifications: (i) Matric/10+2 (ii) Training/Elementary Teachers Training two years course of Punjab State or from any other State or Union Territory declared equivalent and recognized by the Punjab Government. Besides the above said educational qualifications, for the post of Teacher, the candidates must have passed the Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test -I (P.S.T.E.T. -1) conducted by the Punjab Government required under the R.T.E. Act. 3. Mode of Selection: Final merit of candidates who are fulfilling the academic qualifications/professional qualifications and other prescribed qualifications, as mentioned for the aforesaid posts, will be prepared purely on the basis of marks obtained in the Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test (PSTET). Note: (In case more than one candidate have equal marks in Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test -1 (PSTET), then person elder in age will be placed above in merit and in case more than 2 candidates have equal marks and they are of same age then the candidates who is having higher in percentage of marks in Elementary Teacher Training (ETT) will be placed above in merit.";