Govt to review SC’s TET ruling for service, promotions of teachers

Srinagar, Sep 16: The government is likely to review and study the Supreme Court (SC) order under which clearing the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) has been made mandatory for teachers to remain in service or to be eligible for promotion.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Education Minister Sakina Itoo said the government would study and review the order before going ahead with any decision.

Notably, the SC order applies to those teachers appointed before the law mandating the TET came into force.

A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan in early September delivered the verdict while hearing multiple civil appeals, including Anjuman Ishaat-e-Taleem Trust versus State of Maharashtra and others, regarding the eligibility of teachers.

On July 29, 2011, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) made the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) mandatory for appointments in classes 1 to 8.

The main issue before the court was whether this requirement also applied to teachers appointed prior to the notification, both for continuation in service and for consideration in promotions. Following the judgment by the Supreme Court, the teachers in J&K are in a dilemma whether they have to appear in TET for continuation of their services, and if they will be considered for promotions without clearing TET. The court has ordered that the teachers appointed prior to the TET mandate, who have less than five years of service remaining until retirement, may continue in their posts without clearing the exam.

However, they would not be eligible for promotion unless they pass the TET.

It has been ordered that in-service teachers before the mandate and have more than five years left until retirement should clear TET within two years, or they will face compulsory retirement or termination, along with payment of retirement benefits. Besides the in-service teachers, TET has been made mandatory for aspiring teachers before applying for jobs in classes 1 to 8.

The SC order has left the teaching community disappointed, who seek a review of the judgment.

“This decision (to hold TET) is unfair to the teaching community. The recruitment rules before 2019 were altogether different, and post the Reorganisation Act, a new system was adopted,” said Chairman of Jammu Kashmir Teachers Association, Shah Fayaz. “TET mainly focuses on RTE, which became applicable here after 2019. If those who were recruited after 2019 in the department are subjected to TET, there is no issue, but those who have been recruited through a proper system and have been well trained by the department from time to time do not need to go for TET.”

He said that 95 percent of teachers were now trained as per the norms of the department. “If a teacher serving in the department for the last 30 years did not clear TET, does it mean he was not eligible or competent for the teacher post. This judgment needs to be reviewed,” Fayaz said.

In 2015-2016, the then PDP-led government decided to conduct a basic eligibility test for the teachers, particularly those recruited under the erstwhile SSA and ReT scheme.

The decision was taken after an applicant for a ReT post failed to write an essay in court during the hearing of a case. However, the government decision was opposed by the teaching community, who hit the streets to agitate against the authorities, forcing the then government to shelve the decision. In 2018, the government froze hundreds of posts to absorb erstwhile SSA teachers as Grade-II and Grade-III teachers as per the SAC decision number 166/22/2018 taken on December 7, 2018.

Freezing of teaching and non-teaching posts of the School Education Department (SED) blocked the recruitment for almost 10 years, as the then government had to absorb around 40,000 SSA teachers in the department.

To date, no recruitment has been made in SED due to which there is no entry of fresh minds in the department.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Education Minister Sakina Itoo said the SC order would be studied and reviewed at the department level. “We will study the SC order and review it properly at the department level. If need arises, we will also take the opinion of the law department in this regard,” she said.

Itoo said the final decision would be taken only after studying the order properly. “As of now, we cannot say if the government will go ahead with TET or not,” she said.