Archive · 12 Sep 2026
Pre-2009 Teachers Must Pass TET to Keep Jobs
Teachers who started working before 2009 may now need to pass a test called TET.
TET means Teachers’ Eligibility Test.
The rule applies to teachers in government-aided primary and upper-primary schools.
Teachers with more than five years left in service must qualify to keep working.
The Supreme Court gave them until August 31, 2028, to pass.
The state education department wants the test held twice a year.
This gives teachers more chances to qualify.
One teachers’ group criticized earlier political assurances.
A BJP teachers’ representative said the state would work to protect teachers’ jobs while following the court’s directions.
Teachers hired before the 2009 RTE Act must pass TET to retain qualifying jobs.
The requirement applies to in-service teachers in government-aided primary and upper-primary schools.
The Supreme Court set August 31, 2028, as the deadline for obtaining TET qualification.
The state has directed examinations to be held twice yearly, about six months apart.
Teacher representatives disagree over whether political assurances had suggested the requirement would not apply.
- Who
- In-service teachers hired before the 2009 Right to Education Act in government-aided primary and upper-primary schools.
- What
- They must qualify in the Teachers’ Eligibility Test to continue in service if they have more than five years of service remaining.
- When
- They must obtain the qualification by August 31, 2028; TET is to be conducted twice yearly.
- Where
- The order applies in the state covered by the education department, with references to West Bengal’s teachers’ groups.
- Why
- The requirement follows Supreme Court directions concerning statutory TET qualifications for pre-2009 in-service teachers.
Criticism of Earlier Assurances
Commitment to Follow Court Directions
Whether teachers were misled
Criticism of Earlier Assurances
Swapan Mandal of the West Bengal Teachers and Employees Association said BJP teachers’ associations had told in-service teachers they would not need to pass TET to retain their jobs.
Commitment to Follow Court Directions
Pintu Paruy, co-convenor of the BJP teachers’ cell, said the state government was committed to saving every in-service teacher’s job while complying with the Supreme Court’s directions.
How to address the requirement
Criticism of Earlier Assurances
The teachers’ association said the new requirement contradicts assurances previously given to teachers who joined the BJP teachers’ unit.
Commitment to Follow Court Directions
The BJP teachers’ cell said it was in contact with the state government regarding the teachers and the court-mandated process.
- Affected teachers
- Teachers in government-aided primary schools, Classes I to V, and upper-primary schools, Classes VI to VIII.
- Hiring period
- Teachers recruited before the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
- Required test
- Teachers’ Eligibility Test, or TET.
- Deadline
- August 31, 2028.
- Exam frequency
- Preferably twice a year, with approximately six months between examinations.
- Consequence
- Teachers with more than five years of service remaining who fail to qualify cannot continue in service.
- Implementing bodies
- The state primary education board and the school service commission were asked to arrange the examinations.