Hyderabad: The Telangana State United Teachers Federation (TS UTF) is urging a review of the Supreme Court’s decision from September 1. This ruling requires all teachers with over five years of experience to pass the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) within two years or quit their jobs, causing concern among seasoned educators nationwide.
Chava Ravi, TS UTF State President, and A. Venkat, General Secretary, have asked both the Central and State governments to contest this decision in the Supreme Court. They argue it endangers the jobs of many experienced teachers. “It’s unfair to expect teachers with over 20 years of service to suddenly clear the TET in two years,” Ravi stated.
The issue began with a 2010 notification from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), requiring TET for new hires under the Right to Education Act. This rule exempted teachers hired before August 23, 2010, and this exemption was supported by rules in unified Andhra Pradesh in 2011 and upheld in Telangana’s 2015 TET regulations.
However, the recent Supreme Court ruling, related to teacher promotions in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, has changed this precedent. TS UTF leaders believe the verdict doesn’t consider these long-standing exemptions and has caused panic among senior educators who never expected to need the TET.
Further complicating matters, related cases involving minority educational institutions have been sent to the Constitution Bench, while the current decision affects teachers in non-minority schools immediately.
TS UTF demands that TET requirements apply only to teachers hired after the 2010 NCTE notification, with those hired before permanently exempted. The federation warns that without changes, this verdict might destabilize the teaching workforce and harm the morale of experienced educators.
