SC Notice on Plea Seeking Pension, Social Security for Private School Teachers

New Delhi: Supreme Court would hear a petition filed by Kerala based petitioner Ligimol George who seeking direction to Centre to formulate a comprehensive national policy and appropriate statutory framework for ensuring the welfare, social security and post-retirement protection of private school teachers in the country. The bench posted the petition, filed by Kerala-based petitioner Ligimol George, for hearing after four weeks.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the Centre, all states and Union Territories and others, including the National Council for Teacher Education, seeking their responses on the plea.

The plea, also sought a direction to the Centre to consider establishing a national private school teachers welfare board or other appropriate institutional mechanism for coordinating, implementing and monitoring uniform welfare measures, including pensionary benefits, provident fund and gratuity compliance, and an effective grievance redressal mechanism for private school teachers.

According to the petitioner, the plea raises an issue of national importance concerning the absence of a comprehensive national framework for the welfare, social security and post-retirement protection of teachers employed in recognised private educational institutions across the country. The petitioner said that these teachers, despite playing a vital role in the education system, lack uniform statutory safeguards and adequate social-security measures post-retirement.

The plea referred to the data published by the Ministry of Education under the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+).

It said the UDISE+ 2023–24 report records that India has approximately 14.72 lakh schools, over 98 lakh teachers and nearly 24.8 crore students.

"Significantly, 37,30,047 teachers are employed in recognised private unaided schools alone, constituting a substantial segment of the national teaching workforce," the plea said.

It said that despite their indispensable contribution in implementing the constitutional mandate under Article 21A, there exists no dedicated national statutory welfare mechanism or comprehensive institutional framework exclusively addressing their welfare and post-retirement social security.

"The continuing legislative and policy vacuum has resulted in arbitrary disparities between teachers performing substantially identical educational functions across different states and institutions," it said.

The plea said despite discharging the vital public function of imparting education and contributing to the realisation of the constitutional mandate under Article 21A of the Constitution, these teachers continue to remain "deprived of a comprehensive, uniform and effective statutory welfare framework".

"Although education has consistently been recognised as a matter of paramount national importance and forms an integral part of the welfare obligations of the State, there exists no comprehensive central legislation or uniform national policy specifically providing for the long-term welfare, social security and post-retirement protection of private school teachers throughout the country," the plea said.

It said the existing legal framework remains fragmented, inconsistent and largely dependent upon varying State laws, institutional practices and contractual arrangements, resulting in substantial disparities in service conditions and welfare benefits among similarly situated teachers across different states and educational institutions.

It said the petition does not seek interference with the service administration or management of private educational institutions, nor does it seek adjudication of individual service disputes.

"Rather, it seeks formulation of an appropriate national policy and institutional framework to address a long-standing legislative and administrative vacuum concerning the welfare and social security of private school teachers across India, consistent with constitutional principles...," it said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gowriswari V

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A Journey of Three Decades Time passes faster than we realise. What feels like a journey that began only yesterday has today grown into more than three decades of a meaningful and fulfilling life devoted to education, journalism, and the empowerment of young minds. My professional journey began with journalism training in New Delhi in 1979. I went on to work as an independent journalist, drawing on my fluency in both English and Telugu. Over the years, I have edited and worked on Telugu articles in both languages, an experience that strengthened my command of language and sharpened my understanding of society, people, and contemporary issues. Yet, my principal profession and enduring passion have always been teaching. My decision to become a teacher was not merely a career choice—it was a calling. Teaching offered me the rare privilege of inspiring young minds, guiding them through their formative years, and making a lasting difference in their lives. I found immense satisfaction in simplifying complex concepts, nurturing curiosity, encouraging independent thought, and building confidence among students. Every moment in the classroom—every question, every moment of discovery, and every spark of understanding—reminded me why I had chosen this path: to empower young people through knowledge, values, and essential life skills. My teaching career began at the grassroots level as a Montessori teacher and gradually progressed to the position of Vice Principal. I had the opportunity to work in reputed educational institutions, including Dilsukhnagar Public School in Hyderabad, where I shouldered both teaching and administrative responsibilities. Although I have always considered myself, at heart, a teacher, my administrative experience enabled me to understand and contribute to the education system from a much broader perspective. For my students, I have always tried to be an approachable and dependable presence—someone they could turn to not only for academic support, but also for guidance and emotional encouragement. At the same time, I developed a reputation as a firm disciplinarian who believed that integrity, fairness, responsibility, and discipline were fundamental to education. I was also consistently appreciated for maintaining clear communication with parents and staff and for ensuring that examinations and other academic processes were conducted with transparency, fairness, and efficiency. As my career progressed, however, I began to feel that academic education alone was not enough. This realization led me to work more closely with students following the SSC and CBSE curricula, while consciously bringing life-skills education into my teaching. I came to understand that education becomes truly meaningful when it prepares children not merely to pass examinations, but to face life. Teaching emotional resilience, self-reliance, social awareness, communication, decision-making, and other practical life skills often had a deeper and more lasting impact than academic achievement alone. I saw how these skills could help students navigate challenges with greater confidence, maturity, and responsibility. My academic background provided a strong foundation for this approach. My degree in Psychology from the University of Madras helped me develop a deeper understanding of young people's minds, their emotional needs, and the influence of their family and social environments. My M.A. in Telugu with First Class from Osmania University.

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