28K pvt school teachers yet to clear TET

After initiating action against the government teachers who failed to clear Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), Tamil Nadu government has decided to issue notices to private school management to initiate action against the teachers, who do not have TET qualification.

Accordingly, a committee, which was formed by the Directorate of School Education, has found that about 28,000 teachers in private schools in the State do not have TET certification.

A senior official from the School Education Department said that the authorities have found that many private schools have recruited teacher without TET qualification. “Members of the committee are collecting all the details about the teachers working in private schools across the State. It is estimated about 28,000 teachers, who were employed in private schools, did not appear for TET,” the official added.

As per the central government rules and regulations under the Right to Education Act (RTE), it is mandatory for all the school teachers to pass the TET. According to the Act, five years’ duration was given for the private school teachers from 2009 to pass the Teacher Eligibility Test. When this duration expired in 2014, another four years’ extension was given.

At this juncture, the National Council of Technical Education has now ordered the States that all the teachers must qualify in TET before the end of 2019. The official said that the private schools were asked to ensure that all the teachers employed in the school clear TET with immediate effect.

Sources from Tamil Nadu Teacher’s Recruitment Board (TNTRB), the nodal agency for appointing teachers in Tamil Nadu, said that the notification for TET has already been issued and the test would be conducted in the second week of June this year.

Recently, salaries for about 1,500 government school teachers were withheld for not completing TET within stipulated time even after giving more than seven years’ time. However, the government has decided to give one last chance for the government school teachers to complete TET and training is being given for the same.