COIMBATORE: Diploma holders are worried that B Ed graduates will be competing with them for the post of primary teachers as the State government has allowed them to write Paper-I of Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) from this year. On March 7, 2022, the government issued an order giving effect to a Teacher Recruitment Board (TRB) announcement in this regard made in 2019.
Till now, B.Ed graduates were allowed to write paper II for appointment as secondary grade teachers and candidates who passed Diploma in Elementary Education or Bachelor of Elementary Education were eligible to write TET paper - I.
R Maheshwari, a diploma aspirant from Coimbatore, said "Already, B.Ed graduates are writing paper - II and getting graduate teachers job. If they write paper - I also, many of us will not get an opportunity. The government should not allow B. Ed graduate to write paper - I."
Sources however said that the government order did not mention if BEd graduates would be recruited if they pass paper I. " The TRB has just said B.Ed graduates can write paper - I. It does not say anything about their appointment," sources added. K Sekar, a B.Ed aspirant, told TNIE, "We don't know if we will get the job. If we pass in the paper -I, and TRT, there is a chance to get the job. I wrote TET -II two times but could not clear it, so I am writing paper I this year."