Tamil Nadu Education department to promote teachers clearing TET

CHENNAI: The School Education Department will begin promotion counselling and deploy teachers who qualified in the Tamil Nadu Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) after announcing in-service teacher results.

The department is also preparing for the next Special TET exam for serving teachers, scheduled for early next year, and reiterated that TET qualification is mandatory for teachers seeking promotion to higher posts.

According to proceedings issued by the Directorate of Elementary Education, the department will conduct seniority-based promotion counselling for eligible teachers who have cleared TET. The department clarified that senior teachers who qualified in the eligibility test will be included in the promotion process, with the seniority list prepared using the date of its preparation as the crucial date.

The clarification followed a representation by three graduate teachers from government schools in Karur and Devakottai educational districts, who had approached the Madras High Court seeking promotion to middle school headmaster posts based on their seniority and TET qualification.

The Supreme Court ruled that serving teachers, regardless of length of service, must qualify in TET. It also made it clear that qualifying in the exam was mandatory for teachers seeking promotion.

However, teachers with less than five years remaining before retirement as on the date of the judgment were allowed to continue until superannuation without clearing TET, though they would not be eligible for promotion. Those recruited before the Right to Education Act and having more than five years left for retirement were given two years to qualify.

Meanwhile, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), released the subject-wise preparation schedule for the special TET 2026 for in-service teachers. The training programme will cover ten sessions, with weekend classes conducted at district teacher education and training institutes and designated government training centres.

The schedule includes seven weekend training sessions in November and December. Each training day will include five sessions covering child development and pedagogy, languages, and relevant subject areas.