Guidelines for conducting Teacher Eligibility Test (TET)
Background and Rationale
The implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
(RTE) Act, 2009 requires the recruitment of a large number of teachers across the country
in a time bound manner. Inspite of the enormity of the task, it is desirable to ensure that
quality requirement for recruitment of teachers are not diluted at any cost. It is therefore
necessary to ensure that persons recruited as teachers possess the essential aptitude
and ability to meet the challenges of teaching at the primary and upper primary level.
2 In accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 23 of the Right of
Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the National Council for
Teacher Education (NCTE) has laid down the minimum qualifications for a person to be
eligible for appointment as a teacher in class I to VIII, vide its Notification dated August 23,
2010. A copy of the Notification is attached at Annexure 1. One of the essential
qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in any of the schools
referred to in clause (n) of section 2 of the RTE Act is that he/she should pass the Teacher
Eligibility Test (TET) which will be conducted by the appropriate Government.
3 The rationale for including the TET as a minimum qualification for a person to be
eligible for appointment as a teacher is as under:
i. It would bring national standards and benchmark of teacher quality in the
recruitment process;
ii. It would induce teacher education institutions and students from these
institutions to further improve their performance standards;
iii. It would send a positive signal to all stakeholders that the Government lays
special emphasis on teacher quality
4 The TET examination may be conducted by a suitable professional body
designated by the appropriate Government for the purpose. It will be conducted in
accordance with the Guidelines hereunder.
Eligibility
5 The following persons shall be eligible for appearing in the TET:
i. A person who has acquired the academic and professional qualifications
specified in the NCTE Notification dated 23rd August 2010.
ii. A person who is pursuing any of the teacher education courses (recognized by
the NCTE or the RCI, as the case may be) specified in the NCTE Notification
dated 23rd August 2010.
iii. The eligibility condition for appearing in TET may be relaxed in respect of a
State/UT which has been granted relaxation under sub-section (2) of section 23
of the RTE Act. The relaxation will be specified in the Notification issued by the
Central Government under that sub-section.
Structure and Content of TET
6 The structure and content of the TET is given in the following paragraphs. All
questions will be Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), each carrying one mark, with four
alternatives out of which one answer will be correct. There will be no negative marking.
The examining body should strictly adhere to the structure and content of the TET
specified below.
7 There will be two papers of the TET. Paper I will be for a person who intends to be
a teacher for classes I to V. Paper II will be for a person who intends to be a teacher for
classes VI to VIII. A person who intends to be a teacher either for classes I to V or for
classes VI to VIII will have to appear in both papers (Paper I and Paper II).
Paper I (for classes I to V); No. of MCQs – 150;
Duration of examination: one-and-a-half hours
Structure and Content (All Compulsory)
(i) Child Development and Pedagogy 30 MCQs 30 Marks
(ii) Language I 30 " 30 "
(iii) Language II 30 " 30 "
(iv) Mathematics 30 " 30 "
(v) Environmental Studies 30 " 30 "
Nature and standard of questions
While designing and preparing the questions for Paper I, the examining body shall
take the following factors into consideration:
• The test items on Child Development and Pedagogy will focus on educational
psychology of teaching and learning relevant to the age group of 6-11 years.
They will focus on understanding the characteristics and needs of diverse
learners, interaction with learners and the attributes and qualities of a good
facilitator of learning.
• The Test items for Language I will focus on the proficiencies related to the
medium of instruction, (as chosen from list of prescribed language options in
the application form).
• The Language II will be from among the prescribed options other than
Language I. A candidate may choose any one language from the available
language options and will be required to specify the same in the application
form. The test items in Language II will also focus on the elements of language,
communication and comprehension abilities.
• The test items in Mathematics and Environmental Studies will focus on the
concepts, problem solving abilities and pedagogical understanding of the
subjects. In all these subject areas, the test items shall be evenly distributed
over different divisions of the syllabus of that subject prescribed for classes I–V
by the appropriate Government.
• The questions in the tests for Paper I will be based on the topics of the
prescribed syllabus of the State for classes I–V, but their difficulty standard, as
well as linkages, could be upto the secondary stage.
Paper II (for classes VI to VIII); No. of MCQs – 150;
Duration of examination : one-and-a-half hours
Structure and Content
(i) Child Development & Pedagogy (compulsory) 30 MCQs 30 Marks
(ii) Language I (compulsory) 30 " 30 "
(iii) Language II (compulsory) 30 " 30 "
(iv) (a) For Mathematics and Science teacher : Mathematics and Science – 60 MCQs
of 1 mark each
(b) For Social studies teacher : Social Studies - 60 MCQs of 1 mark each
(c) for any other teacher – either 4(a) or 4(b)
While designing and preparing the questions for Paper II, the examining body shall
take the following factors into consideration:
• The test items on Child Development and Pedagogy will focus on
educational psychology of teaching and learning, relevant to the age
group 11-14 years. They will focus on understanding the characteristics,
needs and psychology of diverse learners, interaction with learners and
the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of learning.
• The test items for Language I will focus on the proficiency related to the
medium of instruction, as chosen from list of prescribed options in the
application form.
• The Language II will be a language other than Language I. The person
may choose any one language from among the available options and as
in the specified list in the application form and attempt questions in the
one indicated by the candidate in the application form by him. The Test
items in Language II will also focus on the elements of language,
communication and comprehension abilities.
• The test items in Mathematics and Science, and Social Studies will focus
on the concepts, problem solving abilities and pedagogical understanding
of these subjects. The test items of Mathematics and Science will be of
30 marks each. The test items shall be evenly distributed over different
divisions of the syllabus of that subject as prescribed for classes VI-VIII
by the appropriate government.
• The questions in the tests for Paper II will be based on the topics of the
prescribed syllabus of the State for classes VI-VIII but their difficulty
standard as well as linkages could be upto the senior secondary stage.
8 The question paper shall be bilingual – (i) in language(s) as decided by the
appropriate Government; and (ii) English language.
Qualifying marks
9 A person who scores 60% or more in the TET exam will be considered as TET
pass. School managements (Government, local bodies, government aided and unaided)
(a) may consider giving concessions to persons belonging to SC/ST, OBC,
differently abled persons, etc., in accordance with their extant reservation
policy;
(b) should give weightage to the TET scores in the recruitment process; however,
qualifying the TET would not confer a right on any person for
recruitment/employment as it is only one of the eligibility criteria for
appointment.
Applicability
10
(a) TET conducted by the Central Government shall apply to all schools referred to in
sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of section 2 of the RTE Act.
(b) TET conducted by a State Government/UT with legislature shall apply to :
(i) a school of the State Government/UT with legislature and local authority
referred to in sub-clause (i) of clause (n) of section 2 of the RTE Act; and
(ii) a school referred to in sub-clause (ii) of clause (n) of section 2 of the RTE
Act in that State/UT.
A school at (i) and (ii) may also consider eligibility of a candidate who has obtained
TET Certificate awarded by another State/UT with legislature. In case a State
Government/UT with legislature decides not to conduct a TET, a school at (i) and
(ii) in that State/UT would consider the TET conducted by the Central Government.
(c) A school referred to in sub-clause (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 of the RTE Act may
exercise the option of considering either the TET conducted by the Central
Government or the TET conducted by the State Government/UT with legislature.
Frequency of conduct of TET and validity period of TET certificate
11 The appropriate Government should conduct a TET at least once every year. The
Validity Period of TET qualifying certificate for appointment will be decided by the
appropriate Government subject to a maximum of seven years for all categories. But there
will be no restriction on the number of attempts a person can take for acquiring a TET
Certificate. A person who has qualified TET may also appear again for improving his/her
score.
Procedure for conduct of the Test
12 The examining body shall formulate a detailed procedure and lay down instructions
for conduct of the TET. Candidates should be informed that a very serious view will be
taken of any malpractice or impersonation.
Legal Disputes
13 All legal disputes with regard to conduct of TET shall be subject to the jurisdiction of
the appropriate Government.
Award of TET Certificate
14 The appropriate Government conducting the Test shall award a TET Certificate to
all successful candidates. The certificate should contain the name and address of the
candidate, date of birth, Registration No. year/month of award of Certificate, marks
obtained in each Paper, class level of its validity (Class I to V, class VI to VIII or both),
and, in case of classes VI to VIII, the subject area (Science and Mathematics, Social
Studies, etc.). The certificate may be electronically generated with adequate security
features. Appropriate may consider utilizing the services of specialized agencies for
issuing de-materialized (demat) TET certificates as a security feature to avoid any kind of
malpractice.
Monitoring
15 Following measures would be taken for monitoring the quality and administration of
the TET:
(a) The appropriate Government shall appoint a Nodal Officer for the purpose of
TET.
(b) The NCTE would organize meetings of the Nodal Officers at least once every
year.
(c) Every appropriate Government will forward a report of each TET to the NCTE
in a format to be prescribed by the NCTE.
(d) The NCTE shall maintain data base and be the repository of experts and
resources, including the technological tools for conduct of the TET, and shall
share it with the appropriate Government.
