Govt Teachers Training In Finland; SC Issue Notice To Delhi LG Saxena

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the office of LG VK Saxena on a plea of the Delhi government against LG’s decision to forbid government school teachers from taking future international foreign training.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala sought a response from the office of LG on the Delhi government’s petition.

In his appearance on behalf of the Delhi government, Advocate Shadan Farasat informed the bench that it is clear that LG cannot make an independent decision in this regard and that he cannot say that no such Finland training will be available in the future.

Following the LG’s decision to prohibit future government school teachers from receiving foreign training and approving riders to send them to Finland for training, the Delhi government has moved the Supreme Court for a directive to the LG to act on the Council of Ministers’ aid and advice.

LG cleared some of the teachers for the Finland program on March 4, but was instructed not to conduct such exercises in the future.

The petition sought approval for the Delhi government’s State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) proposal to send primary in-charge teachers from government schools in the national capital to Finland for training in December 2022 and March 2023.

It also sought the revocation of LG’s order dated March 4, 2023, which was issued after an excessive delay, rendering the proposal null and void.

The plea sought direction to “Set aside the order passed by LG on March 4, 2023, and affirm the proposal of the SCERT, Delhi government October 18, 2022.”

“The elected Government of the NCT of Delhi is compelled to file this petition due to the Lieutenant Governor’s unwarranted and deliberate delay in approving the proposal sent by the SCERT to send primary in-charge teachers of government schools in Delhi for teacher training to Finland in the months of December 2022 and March 2023,” the petition stated.

Furthermore, the Delhi government stated that LG’s observations seek to impose an effective embargo on future such programs.

Even though the aforementioned proposal was first submitted to the LG in October 2022, it was only approved five months later, on March 4, 2023, when it had become infructuous, according to the Arvind Kejriwal-led-AAP party government.

“While granting the approval, the LG has stated that such teachers trained in said program shall only become trainers in India and that in future, there was no need for such training programs to be conducted abroad, instead, they should be conducted within India. In this context, the Petitioner (Delhi government) is seeking a re-declaration of the well-settled position of law that the Governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers and has no independent decision-making power,” the plea further reads.

The AAP government accused LG Saxena of “rejecting” the proposal for the training programme in Finland.

LG, on the other hand, had given “approval” and noted that the Delhi government had refused to make public the “impact assessment of the foreign training programs conducted in the past.”