Chennai, August 25
The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Union government to exempt teachers appointed before August 23, 2010, from clearing the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).
School Education Minister Rajmohan, who introduced the resolution, asked the Centre to amend Section 23 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. He also sought appropriate legal measures and a notification from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) granting the exemption.
The resolution is aimed at protecting teachers recruited before the NCTE made the eligibility examination mandatory. Under a notification issued on August 23, 2010, intermediate and graduate teachers are required to clear the TET to satisfy prescribed professional qualification norms.
Rajmohan told the House that the requirement had affected 3,28,701 serving teachers, many of whom had completed between 15 and 20 years of service. Following a Supreme Court ruling, these teachers would be considered for promotion only if they passed the examination.
The court had also directed teachers covered by the requirement to clear the TET by August 31, 2028. Those failing to qualify within the stipulated period could face the possibility of losing their jobs, the minister said.
Rajmohan argued that applying the condition to teachers appointed under earlier recruitment rules would cause severe hardship. These teachers had entered service when the TET was not mandatory and had since acquired considerable classroom experience.
He said many affected teachers were approaching retirement and might find it difficult to prepare for a qualifying examination at this stage of their careers. Their promotions, employment security and retirement benefits could also be affected.
Through the unanimously adopted resolution, the Assembly called for the complete exclusion of pre-August 2010 appointees from the TET requirement and urged the Union government to intervene without delay.
