TN may urge Centre to add govt teachers in new training course

This move is likely to also benefit those government teachers who still haven’t cleared TET.

According to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) rules and regulations defined under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, it is mandatory for all school teachers to pass TET. As per the Act, a duration of five years was given in 2009 to private school teachers to write and pass TET.

When the duration expired, an extension of another four years was given. At this juncture, the Centre has ordered that all teachers-including those employed in government schools-must qualify by writing and passing the eligibility test before the end of 2019.

However, in a parallel activity, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) under the MHRD is planning to implement a long distance special primary school teacher training diploma course for those teachers handling up to Class VIII in private schools.

Unlike TET, the teachers would be able to pursue the new course by specialising in one subject along with an elective. Currently, teachers who have been taking classes in one subject alone for many years now are also pushed to take up examination in different subjects under TET.

A senior official from the School Education Department told DT Next that the MHRD's initiative as an alternative to TET will also be useful to those government school teachers who still haven’t cleared the Teacher Eligibility Test. "The proposed three-month diploma course can be completed by our teachers since they would be able to concentrate in one subject along with a simple elective", he added.

The official said the State would approach the Centre soon to cover government teachers too in the proposal. Sources from NCTE explained that the proposed diploma could be pursued from anywhere, and that teachers could choose one language subject and one elective.

Accordingly, a certificate will be awarded to the participating teachers after three months, provided they clear a test at the end of the course. The certificate is expectedto be equivalent to TETpaper one.