Teachers’ associations have welcomed the decision by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to grant lifetime validity to the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) certificate in future. But they have appealed for extending the benefit to teachers who have already cleared the test.
The NCTE approved the extension of the validity at its general body meeting held in September and said the provision to extend the validity from seven years to a lifetime would have “prospective effect”. “For those who have already passed out and already have the certificates, the NCTE would take legal opinion and act accordingly,” it said.
The Tamil Nadu Teacher Association has said the decision will benefit teachers. But it has called for steps to extend this provision to teachers who have already got through the test.
Livelihood issues
“Teachers are losing their livelihood owing to lack of work and the certificates expiring after seven years will cause them more worries. We urge the NCTE to consider the plight of teachers who already have the certificates and extend their validity,” said P.K. Ilamaran, president, Tamil Nadu Teacher Association.
In 2013, over 70,000 teachers passed the TNTET and several thousands are yet to land jobs.
“Keeping this in mind, we are appealing to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to extend the validity of the certificates of all these teachers,” said M. Elangovan, coordinator, 2013 TNTET Qualified Teachers Welfare Association.
In 2018, the Tamil Nadu government announced that apart from the TNTET, teachers would have to qualify in a competitive exam. “Instead of going in for this additional exam, we want hiring to be done on the basis of TET seniority — for instance, teachers who cleared the TET back in 2013 and are still without jobs can be given preference...,” Mr. Elangovan said.
In a circular, the Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University informed its affiliated colleges of the NCTE’s decision to extend the validity of the TET certificate.
Registrar V. Balakrishnan asked the colleges to encourage students pursuing B.Ed and M.Ed to take up the TET.
