Chennai ,25 August (H.S.):The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Union government to exempt teachers appointed before August 23, 2010, from clearing the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).

School Education Minister Rajmohan, who moved the resolution, called for an amendment to Section 23 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. He also urged the Centre to take necessary legal measures and direct the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to issue an appropriate circular or notification granting the exemption.

The resolution seeks to protect teachers who entered service before the NCTE made the eligibility examination compulsory. The council's notification, issued on August 23, 2010, mandated that intermediate and graduate teachers clear the TET to continue meeting the prescribed professional qualifications.

Rajmohan told the Assembly that 3,28,701 teachers, many of whom had served for 15 to 20 years, were being adversely affected by the requirement. Following a Supreme Court ruling, these teachers would be eligible for promotion only after passing the examination.

The court had also directed serving teachers covered by the requirement to clear the TET by August 31, 2028. Failure to qualify within the stipulated period could expose them to the risk of losing their jobs, the minister said.

Rajmohan argued that enforcing the condition retrospectively would cause serious hardship to teachers who were appointed under the rules prevailing at the time and had since accumulated extensive classroom experience. A substantial number of them were also approaching retirement and could find it difficult to prepare for and pass a qualifying examination at this stage of their careers.

The resolution, adopted unanimously, asked the Union government to intervene promptly and provide legal protection to the affected teachers. The Assembly maintained that those recruited before the NCTE notification should be completely excluded from the TET requirement, safeguarding their promotions, employment and retirement benefits.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman