The Supreme Court on Monday held that the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) is a compulsory qualification for continuing in teaching service or seeking promotion.
A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih clarified that teachers with more than five years left before superannuation must pass TET to remain in service. Those unwilling or unable to qualify may opt to resign or seek compulsory retirement with terminal benefits.
For teachers nearing retirement, the Court carved out an exception — those with only five years left until the age of superannuation will be allowed to continue without TET.
The ruling came on a batch of petitions from states including Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, challenging whether TET is mandatory for service in schools. The Court also referred to a larger Bench the question of whether States can require TET for teachers in minority institutions and the implications for their constitutional rights.
The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) had in 2010 prescribed minimum qualifications for teachers of Classes I to VIII, introducing TET as part of those standards.
Case Background:
The petitions arose from disputes over the applicability of TET to existing teachers, especially in the context of promotions and minority institution rights. Petitioners argued against imposing TET on those already in service, while State authorities defended it as a quality benchmark in line with NCTE norms.
With this judgment, the Supreme Court has affirmed TET as a uniform requirement for most serving teachers, while reserving the minority institutions’ rights issue for further adjudication.
