Supreme Court: Physical Training Instructors Recognized as Teachers

Source- This post is based on the article “Physical training instructors come within definition of teachers: SC” published in “The Hindu” on 25th December 2023.

Why in the News?

Recently, the Supreme Court held that individuals serving as physical training instructors (PTIs) fall under the categorization of ‘teachers’.

What was the Case?

1) The Bench was hearing the case of a sports officer/ PTI at Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (university). He was challenging the university’s demand to retire him at 60 years of age.

2) He had sought parity with the other teaching faculty whose age of superannuation was 62.

What has the Supreme Court held?

1) The Supreme Court has ruled that physical training instructors (PTIs) are recognized as ‘teachers,’ even if they don’t necessarily conduct classes within the confines of a building as in the case of a Professor/Associate Professor/Assistant Professors.

2) The Bench held that ‘PTI’s teach students the skills and regulations of different sports and games’.

3) Multifarious duties– The court held that a physical director holds a range of responsibilities such as overseeing daily student games, handling sports equipment and ground maintenance, coordinating inter-class and inter-college tournaments.

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