1,500 may get last chance to clear ‘special’ TET

In accordance with the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) had made TET a mandatory requisite to be eligible to work as a teacher from Class 1 to Class 8.  

Accordingly, teachers who handle Class 1 to Class 5 must clear TET Paper-I and graduate teachers who handle Class 5 to Class 8 will have to clear TET paper-II. 

However, 1,757 teachers, who joined in 2011 batch on the pretext that they would complete TET, could not pass the test despite being given grace time of more than eight years. 

A senior official from the School Education Department told DT Next, “Despite attempting TET thrice since 2011, they could not clear the test till now.”

“We had taken action against them by withholding their salaries,” he said adding, however, due to court’s intervention they are being paid. 

Stating that government was about to act against the 1,757 teachers by suspending them, the official said, “Following the request of the teachers and considering their financial situation, the authorities have decided to give them one last chance to clear the TET. 

"After consulting with the NCTE, the Tamil Nadu Teachers Recruitment Board will be conducting a special TET by January or February only for those teachers,” he said. The official further noted that if teachers fail to clear the ‘special’ TET, then the government will have no choice but to fill their posts by appointing teaching aspirants, who are in the waiting list.