CHENNAI: The Supreme Court’s extension of the deadline to clear the Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) has caused division among the TN school teachers. While some sections of the teachers are relieved that they can skip the exam altogether, the rest of the group are disappointed.
As per recent developments, teachers across India, including TN, can now clear TET before August 31, 2028.
However, not many teachers in TN are excited by this, as many argue that working teachers must be exempted from the exam altogether, while some others have urged to reduce the qualifying marks for tenured teachers.
A secondary grade teacher (SGT) set to write TET said, “We had expected that the SC would exempt in-service teachers from TET, but, that didn’t happen. Since it’s mandatory now for in-service teachers to clear TET, it’s only fair that the qualifying marks are reduced for tenured teachers.”
Depending on the new candidate’s community and for persons with disability, the qualifying marks for TET in TN are between 60 and 82.5 marks.
There are others are relieved by the extension announced by the SC. “As per the judgment, those with less than five years to retirement are exempted from TET. Hence, many teachers set to retire in 2027 and 2028 are relieved of the burden to clear TET,” said a senior PG teacher.
Teachers who were unable to clear TET within the stipulated time will be forced to retire. TET for in-service teachers in TN has been scheduled on July 4 and 5.
But the Directorate of School Education has not commenced training for teachers as yet, even though the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is ready with the study materials.