Mumbai: In an attempt to increase employment opportunities for teachers, the validity period of Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) qualifying certificate has been extended from seven years to lifetime, announced the Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Thursday. The minister said this extension will encourage more candidates to pursue teaching as a career.
The Union Education Minister said, "Validity period of Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) qualifying certificate has been extended from seven years to lifetime with retrospective effect from 2011."
The minister further said, "Respective State governments and Union Territories will take necessary action to re-validate or issue fresh certificates to candidates whose period of seven years has elapsed already. This is a positive step in increasing the employment opportunities in the teaching field."
TET, conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), is the minimum qualification required in India for a candidate to be eligible for appointment as a teacher for Classes 1 to 8. The test is mandatory for teaching jobs in government schools in India.
The guidelines dated February 11, 2011 of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) stated that TET would be conducted by State governments and the validity of the TET certificate would be seven years from the date of passing the test.
