Supreme Court: Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) Is Mandatory To Remain In Service
While hearing civil appeals on the matter of whether teachers appointed before July 29, 2011, having years of teaching experience, are required to qualify for the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) to be considered for promotion, and whether for minority institutions, there can be insistence by school education departments on teachers to pass the TET exam.
Notably, on July 29, 2011, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) made TET mandatory, laying down the minimum qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a Teacher.
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In this context, for the mandatory requirement of TET, the Court passed the following directions under Article 142:
- Those teachers who have less than five years of service left as on date will be continued in service till they attain the age of superannuation without qualifying for the TET.
- Any such teacher who has less than five years of service left, if aspiring for promotion, will not be considered eligible without qualifying TET.
- In-service teachers recruited before the enactment of the Act, and having more than five years to retire, shall be under an obligation to qualify for the TET within 2 years to continue in service. If any such teacher fails to qualify the TET within the time allowed, they will have to quit service or be compulsorily retired and paid terminal benefits.
To qualify for the terminal benefits, teachers must have put in the qualifying service in accordance with the rules.
