SC order to hit three lakh teachers, associations seek special TET

CHENNAI: The Supreme Courts judgment on Monday, directing all in-service secondary grade and graduate teachers in non-minority schools to clear the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) within two years is set to affect nearly 3 lakh teachers across Tamil Nadus government, aided and private schools. Of these, more than 90,000 are in government schools, sources said. With their jobs and promotions on the line, teachers associations have urged the government to hold a special TET examination for in-service staff, enabling them to meet the requirement without jeopardising their service. Of the 5.4 lakh teachers employed in all schools across the state, over 3.5 lakh are secondary grade and graduate teachers. According to Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) statistics, since 2012, when the body first conducted TET in the state, a total of 37,28,435 candidates have taken the exam, but only 1,67,985 have passed. Of these, more than 1.35 lakh remain unappointed in government or government-aided schools as of 2023. This indicates that only around 30,000 government and aided school teachers currently in service have cleared the test while their total strength is more than 2 lakh. All the teachers who were appointed after 2012 have cleared TET, however, this number is very low. A decision on the judgment will be taken at the highest-level as it affects most of the secondary grade and graduate teachers, said a school education department official. The court has also exempted teachers due to retire within five years from clearing TET. While they can complete their service, they will not be eligible for promotions without clearing the test. Teachers associations have long urged that the TET requirement be made applicable only to those appointed after 2011, when TET was introduced. With the SCs ruling on Monday, they have now urged for a special TET for those who are already employed. The department has conducted only around six TET since 2012. If all the teachers are to pass the examination in line with the judgment, they should conduct TET exclusively for the teachers already employed and ensure that their promotions are not affected, said R Doss, general secretary of Elementary School Teachers Association. Promotions for secondary grade, elementary and middle school headmasters, graduate teachers and block resource teacher educators have not been processed since the TET-related case was pending in the SC for three years, he pointed out. School education secretary B Chandra Mohan said the government will take a decision after evaluating the implications of the judgment.