Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh: Following the recent Supreme Court ruling, the School Education Department has announced that currently serving teachers will have the chance to appear for the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET). Teachers who joined the profession before 2011 without taking the TET will also be eligible for this opportunity. The official TET notification is expected to be released within two days.

On September 1, the Supreme Court directed that all in-service teachers must pass the TET within two years to continue in their positions. Teachers who are within five years of retirement are exempted from this requirement, but they must clear the TET to be eligible for promotions. Several associations have submitted review petitions challenging the Supreme Court’s decision. The flexibility will be provided only to those awaiting this verdict. The Directorate of School Education will announce the detailed schedule once the government issues the necessary orders.

Regarding eligibility, there will be no relaxation this time. Candidates from SC, ST, BC categories, and differently-abled applicants will be admitted to BEd programs even with 40% marks in their graduation. However, after completing BEd, candidates will now need a minimum of 45% to qualify for the TET. In previous years, the requirement had been relaxed to 40% for appearing in TET. For this upcoming test, the School Education Department plans to strictly enforce the 45% qualifying marks.

For the upcoming two-day TET, educational qualifications have been divided based on whether teachers joined before or after 2011. It is still unclear whether in-service teachers will need a minimum mark in their educational qualifications. Candidates who entered the profession prior to 2011 should have secured at least 45% marks for SGTs and Intermediate positions, while BC, SC, ST, PwD, and Ex-servicemen also require 45%. For Paper-2 candidates, the eligibility is set at 50% for OC candidates and 45% for all other categories.