10,000 Telangana Teachers Yet to Clear TET

Hyderabad: Around 10,000 in-service teachers are yet to apply for the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) even as the Supreme Court deadline for affected teachers to acquire the qualification runs until August 31, 2028. Teachers’ unions say many senior and language teachers are staying away because they are uncomfortable with the present syllabus and computer-based test, while several thousand teachers are already losing promotion opportunities for want of TET.

About 16,000 teachers have applied for the special examination scheduled from September 7 to 11, according to Telangana State United Teachers’ Federation (TSUTF) president and School Teachers’ Federation of India (STFI) general secretary Chava Ravi. He said nearly 30,000 teachers from the affected group had acquired TET qualification in recent sessions, while around 26,000 still required it.

The state had introduced special TET sessions after teacher organisations sought additional opportunities for serving teachers. “We requested the state government to conduct a special TET, but there is no use in having this kind of special TET if the same pattern continues. Many teachers have been away from formal study for years. Most of those facing difficulty are language teachers, and they are afraid of Mathematics and English because these are not the subjects they teach,” said Ravi.

Under the present Paper I pattern, candidates answer questions from Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I, English, Mathematics and Environmental Studies. Paper II includes Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I and English, apart from a 60-mark Mathematics and Science or Social Studies component. Teachers outside those subjects also have to choose one of the two 60-mark sections.

Teachers want the special examination for serving teachers to test them primarily in the subject they teach. Ravi said pedagogy could form a common component, with the qualifying requirement adjusted for teachers who have already spent years in classrooms. “If a teacher has been teaching a language throughout his or her service, that teacher should be tested in that subject. If the government wants to test teaching knowledge, it can test pedagogy and prescribe minimum marks.”

The union has raised the demand with both the state and Union governments. Computer-based testing has become another concern with a section of senior teachers, particularly those over 50, who have limited experience operating computers and are anxious about writing the entire examination in that format. The test lasts two-and-a-half hours.

Teachers with more than five years of service remaining have until August 31, 2028 to clear TET. The Supreme Court extended the earlier August 31, 2027 deadline by one year in its May 29 review order and asked states and other competent authorities to conduct TET preferably twice a year, at intervals of around six months, so that serving teachers get adequate opportunities to qualify.

Telangana has approved two special TETs for in-service teachers in addition to its regular TET sessions. The September examination is the first of the special tests. The qualification acquired through this examination can be used by serving teachers to meet the TET requirement for continuation in their present post or for promotion, but cannot be used for future direct recruitment.

Teacher organisations, however, continue to seek relief through a change in law rather than repeated examinations.

The STFI national council, which met in Jaipur over the weekend under its president C.N. Bharti, passed a resolution seeking an amendment to Section 23 of the Right to Education Act to remove the mandatory TET condition for in-service teachers. STFI has said the Supreme Court ruling affects the future of about 25 lakh teachers across the country and has sought intervention from the Union government.