Jaipur: Over 80,000 teachers appointed in Rajasthan before 2011 face uncertainty over whether they will have to clear the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for promotions following a 2025 Supreme Court ruling mandating TET for teachers appointed before 2011.
Appointed under state recruitment rules without a TET requirement, the teachers are seeking exemption, citing their long years of service. The association has written to the Union education minister, seeking exemption for teachers already in service.
Teachers said the requirement was introduced after the enactment of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009. Rajasthan implemented the RTE Act in 2010, while TET was first conducted as RTET in 2011 and 2013. It was subsequently held as REET in 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2022.
Passing TET was made mandatory for new appointments to teaching posts in the state from 2012. However, teachers said there was no notification making it mandatory for those already in service.
“Now, 80,000 teachers appointed in various years prior to 2012 are currently in service in Rajasthan but have not passed TET, either in the form of RTET or REET. This is because the Teacher Eligibility Test was only introduced in Rajasthan in 2011, and while it was stated that passing the test would be mandatory for new appointments, there was no notification, order, or provision indicating that passing the test would be mandatory for teachers already in service,” said Vipin Prakash Sharma, state president of the association.
Teachers pointed out that eligibility for TET requires candidates to have secured 50% marks in Class 12 and graduation. Several serving teachers do not meet these criteria and cannot appear for the test. They said thousands were appointed under rules of the Panchayat Samiti, Zila Parishad, Elementary Education and Secondary Education departments.
Mahendra Pandey, state general secretary of the association, said teachers appointed before 2011 should be exempted from the TET requirement through an ordinance, bill or legislation. “A national meeting of the Teachers’ Federation of India has been convened in Lucknow on Oct 5 to deliberate on the future course of action,” Pandey said.
