AHMEDABAD: In Gujarat, 2.75 lakh candidates have passed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), and 1.18 lakh candidates have passed the Teacher Aptitude Test (TAT) but remain unemployed. These exams are necessary to qualify for teaching positions.
The Gujarat government acknowledged in the Legislative Assembly that out of 3.94 lakh candidates, 3.88 lakh who passed the TET and TAT tests in the last two years are currently unemployed.
There have been frequent protests in Gujarat over the employment of TET and TAT passers for teacher recruitment in schools. Congress MLA Kirit Patel raised questions in the Gujarat Assembly about the number of candidates who passed these exams and how many were actually employed.
In response to Kirit Patel’s inquiry, the government provided statistics stating that as of December 31, 2023, 39,395 candidates passed TAT-1, 2, 35, 956 candidates passed TAT-2, and 75,328 completed TAT Secondary. Additionally, 28,307 candidates completed TAT Secondary dual level, and 15,253 achieved TAT Higher Secondary dual level.
Consequently, 3.94 lakh applicants passed the teacher eligibility exams, with the government recruiting 2300 TET-1 candidates in 2022 and 3378 TET-II candidates in the same year. However, no recruitment took place in secondary or higher secondary schools in 2022.
Similarly, the government reported that in 2023, no candidates were recruited for government or grant-aided primary and secondary schools. When Congress MLA inquired about the timeline for recruitment, the administration responded, “Recruitment will be carried out as per requirement.”
Thus, the government admitted in the assembly that out of 3.94 lakh TAT and TET candidates, only 5,678 people were recruited in the last two years. Meanwhile, addressing a query from Congress MLA Arvind Ladani on February 26th, Education Minister Kuber Dindor informed the House that 5,940 teaching positions were vacant in 4,146 state-run as well as government-aided higher secondary schools as of March 2023.
He further stated that 3,260 teaching positions were vacant in various state-run as well as government-aided secondary schools as of March 2023, in response to a query raised by another Congress legislator, Gulabsinh Chauhan.