TIRUCHY: The Tamil Nadu Government has filed a review petition on Monday in the Supreme Court seeking reconsideration of its September 1 order mandating all serving teachers to clear the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) within two years to continue in service, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi told media persons in Tiruchy on Tuesday.
The Minister said the Review Petition challenged the apex court’s order and connected matters, stressing that retrospective application of the TET rule would adversely impact 3.28 lakh teachers with more than five years of service left and about 67,000 nearing retirement.
"If these experienced teachers are declared unqualified or forced to retire, it will leave classrooms vacant across thousands of schools, jeopardising the future of millions of children," he warned.
He said the State was also exploring all possibilities of introducing a special legislation in the forthcoming Assembly session to protect teachers and prevent disruption of the school education system.
Referring to the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) notification dated August 23, 2010, which exempted teachers appointed before that date from the TET requirement, Poyyamozhi said the Government has prayed that this exemption be upheld.
"We have sought clarity that pre-2010 appointees should continue to be eligible for promotion, while TET should apply prospectively only to new appointments and promotions after 2010," he said.
The Minister stressed that enforcing the order without modification could result in an unprecedented shortage of nearly four lakh teachers, which the State could not replace within two years. Such a scenario, he said, would gravely endanger the Right to Education of rural, hilly, and marginalised children who rely entirely on Government schools.