Salary withheld for TN teachers without TET qualification: 8000 Govt teachers to be hit

The future of more than 3,000 government and government-aided school teachers across the State is at stake as Tamil Nadu has started withholding their salaries for failure to complete Teacher’s Eligibility Test (TET) within the stipulated time.

The affected teachers were recruited in 2011 on the condition that they needed to clear TET within five years from the appointment date.

In accordance with the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) had made TET a mandatory requisite to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in Classes 1 to 8. Based on this, it had been inter alia provided that one of the essential qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in any of the schools referred to the RTE Act is that aspirants should pass the TET,  conducted by Tamil Nadu Teacher’s Recruitment Board, (TNTRB), the nodal agency for appointing teachers in TN.

Secondary grade teachers, who teach Classes 1 to 5, would have to pass TET paper-I. Likewise, graduate teachers, who handle Classes 5 to 8, would have to complete TET paper-II.

A senior official from the Education Department told DT Next on Wednesday that the government initially had given a grace time of five years to complete TET for teachers appointed in 2011. This was extended by another two years. Despite this, over 3,000 teachers are yet to clear TET,” he added.  Pointing out that the teacher’s recruitment board has so far conducted three TET exams since the NCTE notification, the official claimed that 3,000 teachers had failed to clear TET despite three attempts. “We have given enough time. The government action has come against the lethargic approach by these teachers,” the senior official said while noting that the April salary of the teachers who did not qualify for TET, was cut.

K Suresh, a graduate teacher at AJS government-aided school in Adambakkam, said, “Without any prior notice or information, my April salary was cut. However, when we approached the authorities concerned, they confirmed that it was due to TET issue.”  He also admitted that he could not get the required marks in TET even after three attempts. Tamil Nadu Teachers Association (TTA) state secretary P K Illamaran said the government should have conducted at least ten TETs since 2011 as per the norms. “Three is not enough,” he added.