National Council for Teacher Education

(A Statutory Body of the Government of India)

No. 76-4/2010/NCTE/Acad Dated: 11th February 2011

To

All Secretaries/Commissioners of Education of State Governments/UTs

Subject : Guidelines for conducting Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) under

the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009

Sir/Madam,

In accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 23 of the

RTE Act, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) had vide
Notification dated 23rd August 2010 laid down the minimum qualifications for a
person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in classes I to VIII. It had
been inter alia provided that one of the essential qualifications for a person to
be eligible for appointment as a teacher in any of the schools referred to in
clause (n) of section 2 of the RTE Act is that he/she should pass the Teacher
Eligibility Test (TET) which will be conducted by the appropriate Government
in accordance with the Guidelines framed by the NCTE.

In this regard, please find enclosed the Guidelines for conducting the
Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for necessary action at your end.

This may be brought to the knowledge of all concerned.

Yours faithfully

(Vikram Sahay)

Member Secretary
Copy to:-

(i) PS to HRM/MOS(HRD)

(ii) PPS to Secretary (SE8L)

(iii) Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan

(iv) Commissioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti

(v) Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education

(vi) Chairman, Council for the Indian Scholl Certificate Examination

Wing- 11, Hans Bhawan, 1 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi – 110002
Tel : 011-23370125 Fax: 23370128

E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.ncte-india.org

 Guidelines for conducting Teacher Eligibility Test (TET)

Background and Rationale

The implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory

Education (RTE) Act, 2009 requires the recruitment of a large number of
teachers across the country in a time bound manner. Inspite of the enormity of
the task, it is desirable to ensure that quality requirement for recruitment of
teachers are not diluted at any cost. It is therefore necessary to ensure that
persons recruited as teachers possess the essential aptitude and ability to
meet the challenges of teaching at the primary and upper primary level.

2. In accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 23 of the

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the
National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has laid down the minimum
qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in class I
to VIII, vide its Notification dated August 23, 2010. A copy of the Notification is
attached at Annexure 1. One of the essential qualifications for a person to be
eligible for appointment as a teacher in any of the schools referred to in clause
(n) of Section 2 of RTE Act is that he/she should pass the Teacher Eligibility
Test (TET) which will be conducted by the appropriated Government.

3. The rationale for including the TET as a minimum qualification for a

person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher is as under:

i. It would bring national standards and benchmark of teacher

quality in the recruitment process.

ii. It would induce teacher education institutions and students from

these institutions to further improve their performance standards;

iii. It would send a positive signal to all stakeholders that the

Government lays special emphasis on teacher quality.
4. The TET examination may be conducted by a suitable professional
body designated by the appropriate Government for the purpose. It will be
conducted in accordance with the Guidelines hereunder.

Eligibility

5. The following persons shall be eligible for appearing in the TET

i. A person who has acquired the academic and professional

qualifications specified in the NCTE Notification dated 23rd August
2010.

ii. A person who is pursuing any of the teacher education courses

(recognized by the NCTE or the RCI as the case may be)
specified in the NCTE Notification dated 23rd August 2010.

iii. The eligibility condition for appearing in TET may be relaxed in

respect of a State/UT which has been granted relaxation under
sub-section (2) of section 23 of the RTE Act. The relaxation will
be specified in the Notification issued by the Central Government
: under that sub-section.

Structure and Content of TET

6 The structure and content of the TET is given in the following

paragraphs. All questions will be Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs, each
carrying one mark, with four alternatives out of which one answer will be
correct. There will be no negative marking. The examining body should strictly
adhere to the structure and contents of the TET specified below.

7. There will be two papers of the TET. Paper I will be for a person who
intends to be a teacher for classes I to V. Paper II will be for a person who
intends to be a teacher for classes VI to VIII. A person who intends to be a
teacher either for classes I to V or for classes VI to VIII will have to appear in
both papers (Paper I and Paper II).
 Paper I (for classes I to V): No. of MCQs – 150 :

Duration of examination: one-and-a-half hours

Structure and Content (All Compulsory)

(i) Child Development and Pedagogy 30 MCQs 30 Marks

(ii) Language I 30 “ 30 “

(iii) Language II 30 “ 30 “

(iv) Mathematics 30 “ 30 “

(v) Environmental Studies 30 “ 30 “

Nature and standard of questions

While designing and preparing the questions for Paper I, the examining
body shall take the following factors into consideration :

 The test items on the Child Development and Pedagogy will focus
on educational psychology of teaching and learning relevant to
the age group of 6-11 years. They will focus on understanding the
characteristics and needs of diverse learners, interacting with
learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of
learning.
 The Test Items for Language I will focus on the proficiencies
related to the medium of instruction, (as chosen from list of
prescribed language options in the application form).
 The Language II will be from among the prescribed options other
than Language I. A candidate may choose any one language
from the available language options and will be required to
specify the same in the application form. The test items in
Language II will also focus on the elements of language,
communication and comprehension abilities.
  The test items in Mathematics and Environmental Studies will
focus on the concepts, problem solving abilities and pedagogical
understanding of the subjects. In all these subject areas, the test
items shall be evenly distributed over different divisions of the
syllabus of that subject prescribed for classes’ I-V by the
appropriate Government.
 The questions in the tests for Paper I will be based on the topics
of the prescribed syllabus of the State for classes I-V, but their
difficulty standard, as well as linkages, could be upto the
secondary stage.
Paper II (for classes VI to VIII); No. MCQs – 150;
Duration of examination : one-and-a-half hours

Structure and Content (All Compulsory)

(i) Child Development and Pedagogy 30 MCQs 30 Marks

(ii) Language I 30 “ 30 “

(iii) Language II 30 “ 30 “

(iv) (a) For Mathematics and Science teacher : Mathematics and Science –
60 MCQs of 1 mark each

(b) For Social studies teacher : Social Studies – 60 MCQs of 1 mark

each

(c) for any other teacher – either 4(a) or 4(b)

While designing and preparing the questions for Paper I, the examining
body shall take the following factors into consideration :

 The test items on the Child Development and Pedagogy will focus
on educational psychology of teaching and learning relevant to
the age group of 11-14 years. They will focus on understanding
the characteristics and needs of diverse learners, interacting with
 learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of
learning.
 The test items for Language I will focus on the proficiency related
to the medium of instruction, as chosen from list of prescribed
options in the application form.
 The Language II will be a language other than Language I. The
person may choose any one language from among the available
options and as in the specified list in the application form and
attempt questions in the one indicated by the candidates in the
application form by him. The Test items in Language II will also
focus on the elements of language, communication and
comprehension abilities.
 The test items in Mathematics and Science and Social Studies
will focus on the concepts, problem solving abilities and
pedagogical understanding of these subjects. The test items of
Mathematics and Science will be of 30 marks each. The test
items shall be evenly distributed over different divisions of the
syllabus of that subject as prescribed for classes VI-VIII by the
appropriate government.
 The questions in the tests for Paper II will be based on the topics
of the prescribed syllabus of the State for classes VI-VIII but their
difficulty standard as well as linkages could be upto the senior
secondary state.

8 The question paper shall be bilingual – (i) in language(s) as decided by

the appropriate Government; and (ii) English language.

Qualifying marks

9. A person who scores 60% or more in the TET exam will be considered
as TET pass. Scholl managements (Government, local bodies, governmental,
aided and unaided)
 (a) may consider giving concessions to persons belonging to SC/ST,
OBC differently abled persons, etc. in accordance with their
extant reservation policy;

(b) should give weightage to the TET scores in the recruitment

process; however, qualifying the TET would not confer a right on
any person for recruitment/employment as it is only one of the
eligibility criteria for appointment.

Applicability

10

(a) TET conducted by the Central Government shall apply to all schools
referred to in sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of section 2 of the RTE Act.

(b) TET conducted by a State Government/UT with legislature shall apply

to:

(i) a school of the State Government/UT with legislature and local

\authority referred to in sub-clause (i) of clause (n) of section 2 of
the RTE Act; and

(ii) a school referred to in sub-clause (ii) of clause (n) of section 2 of

the RTE Act in that State/UT.

A school at (i) and (ii) may also consider eligibility of a candidate who
has obtained TET Certificate awarded by another State/UT with
legislature. In case a State Government/UT with legislature decides not
to conduct a TET, a school at (i) and (ii) in that State/UT would consider
the TET conducted by the Central Government.

(c) A school referred to in sub-clause (iv) of clause (n) of section 2 of the

RTE Act may exercise the option of considering either the TET
conducted by the Central Government or the TET conducted by the
State Government/UT with legislature.
Frequency of conduct of TET and validity period of TET certificate

11 The appropriate Government should conduct a TET at least once every

year. The Validity Period of TET qualifying certificate for appointment will be
decided by the appropriate Government subject to a maximum of seven years
for all categories. But there will be no restriction on the number of attempts a
person can take for acquiring a TET Certificate. A person who has qualified
TET may also appear again for improving his/her score.

Procedure for conduct of the Test

12 The examining body shall formulate a detailed procedure and lay down
instructions for conduct of the TET. Candidates should be informed that a very
serious view will be taken of any malpractice or impersonation.

Legal Disputes

13 All legal disputes with regard to conduct of TET shall be subject to the
jurisdiction of the appropriate Government.

Award of TET Certificate

14 The appropriate Government conducting the Test shall award a TET

Certificate to all successful candidates. The certificate should contain the
name and address of the candidate, date of birth, Registration No. year/month
of award of Certificate, marks obtained in each Paper, class level of its validity
(Class I to V, class VI to VIII or both), and, in case of classes VI to VIII, the
subject area (Science and Mathematics, Social Studies, etc.). The certificate
may be electronically generated with adequate security features. Appropriate
may consider utilizing the services of specialized agencies for issuing de-
materialized (demat) TET certificates as a security feature to avoid any kind of
malpractice.

Monitoring
15 Following measures would be taken for monitoring the quality and
administration of the TET:
a) The appropriate Government shall appoint a Nodal Officer for the
purpose of TET.
b) The NCTE would organize meetings of the Nodal Officers at least once
every year.
c) Every appropriate Government will forward a report of each TET to the
NCTE in a format to be prescribed by the NCTE.
d) The NCTE shall maintain data base and be the repository of experts
and resources, including the technological tools for conduct of the TET,
and shall share it with the appropriate Government.
Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Board, Hamirpur

177001

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