CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to direct the Ministry of Education to amend Section 23 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and Section 12-A of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Act, 1993, to exempt teachers appointed before August 23, 2010, from clearing the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) as per a recent Supreme Court verdict.
He said the judgment requires all in-service teachers who have not passed TET to acquire the qualification within two years to continue in service. Teachers with less than five years of service left, though permitted to continue, will not be eligible for promotions unless they qualify in TET, as per the ruling, the CM pointed out.
“The NCTE initially exempted teachers appointed before August 23, 2010, from new qualification requirements like the TET. However, this subsequent interpretation of the RTE Act by the Supreme Court has made TET compulsory even for these existing teachers, superseding the earlier exemption,” he added.
Stalin noted that the retrospective application of TET for both continuation in service and eligibility for promotions significantly disrupts long-settled service rights, creates an administrative impossibility for states, and risks destabilising the school education system.
“In Tamil Nadu alone, nearly four lakh teachers fall under this category. These teachers had satisfied all academic and professional qualifications prescribed at the time, were recruited through valid and rigorous processes, and entered service many years before the introduction of TET in 2011.”
The CM added that the large-scale consequences of retrospective enforcement are evident nationwide. Replacing such a vast number of teachers is unfeasible for any state, given recruitment cycles, availability of qualified candidates, and service conditions in rural and remote areas.
The disruption caused by the ruling also has direct implications for the constitutional right to education under Article 21-A, he said. CM’s letter followed a recent meeting of the school education minister with teachers associations.