Amid fervent discussions and unsettling sighs, what emerged after the third Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) on Sunday, was a mixed response from candidates.
They were divided not just on the papers’ difficulty levels but also how it fared compared to the Tamil Nadu Teacher Eligibility Test conducted by the Teachers Recruitment Board.
According to the CBSE regional office, 2,984 candidates registered to appear for CTET in Chennai. While 1,437 candidates registered for Paper I, 2,309 registered for Paper II. Some candidates registered for both papers.
“There were around 30 per cent absentees,” said a CBSE official. Clearing CTET has been made mandatory under the Right to Education Act, for recruitment of teachers in schools run by the Central government such as Kendriya Vidyalayas.
Candidates have to secure 60 per cent to clear the paper. The examination was conducted across five centres in the city, and three cities in Tamil Nadu, according to CBSE.
While some candidates said they found the paper much easier than the previous CTET conducted in January, many others said it was just as challenging to crack. V. Kavitha, a teacher at a CBSE school in the city, who appeared for Paper I (meant for those intending to teach classes I to V), after much contemplation placed herself on the borderline.
“When compared to the CTET which I wrote in January, this was tougher. The one thing that remained unchanged was the race against time to complete the paper,” the math teacher said. She is among the many teachers who are voluntarily writing the examination.
“We have asked all teachers who joined post 2010 to clear CTET within five years,” said a principal of a CBSE school.
The response to Paper II, meant for those intending to teach classes VI to VIII, was not very different. N. Kanimozhi, who said she cleared TNTET in the first attempt, felt CTET scaled quite high on the difficulty level, especially the section on psychology.
However, there were others like Clara Rajesh, who called Paper II both interesting and challenging.
“Not only were the questions much easier than TNTET’s Paper II, but also more application-based. Though it would have been ideal if the paper had been for two hours, I am expecting to score around 120,” she said.
