Now TET mandatory For Teachers

Now TET mandatory For Teachers

ccording to the new directives from the State government, those who are aspiring to become teachers will now have to clear 'teacher's eligibility test' (TET). The test has been made mandatory under the Righ to Education Act.

Pune-based Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) has been appointed to conduct the examination before October-November end for this year. Open category candidates will have to obtain at least 60% marks to clear the test, which the mark is 55% for those from SC, ST, NT, SBC and OBC classes.

Clearing the confusion about those aspiring to join CBSE schools, additional chief secretary (school education and sports) JS Saharia told TOI that the state TET will not be mandatory for those who have cleared or wish to appear in CBSE"s central TET (CTET). "Aspiring teachers may also appear in the state TET for qualifying to CBSE schools. TET is not mandatory for existing teachers and applicable for those aspiring to join as teachers from now onwards," he said.

TET is mandatory for teachers from Class 1 to Class 8, Paper 1 is meant for teachers opting for Class 1 to Class 5 and Paper 2 for Class 6 to Class 8. It is conducted by both Central government and State governments in India. The test is conducted in order fulfill the achieve Right to education goals.

TET was introduced by the Central government in order to improve standard of teaching. It was held for the first time in 2011. The State government made it mandatory from the current academic year. For teachers already working, they are supposed to clear the exam in two years time.

The exam is based on National Curriculum Framework. All graduates, including BA, BSc, BCom etc are eligible to take the test. All BEd graduates need to pass this exam to work as a teacher.

A candidate has to score over 60 per cent to clear the eligibility test. The exam is divided into Paper 1 and Paper 2.

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) maintains the database.